Etymograph

English

quite

Quite developed from English quit (Middle English quiten, Anglo-Norman quitter), from Medieval Latin quiētus, from Latin quiēscō ‘to rest’, ultimately from PIE *kʷyeh₁- ‘to rest’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷyeh₁-‘to rest’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēs‘rest, repose’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēscō‘to rest’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500quiētus‘at rest, free’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400quitter
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quiten
  7. English1500–presentquit
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590quite

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷyeh₁-‘to rest’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēs‘rest, repose’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēscō‘to rest’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500quiētus‘at rest, free’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400quitter
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quiten
  7. English1500–presentquit
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590quite

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VIII: “Thus when they had the witch diſrobed quight, /…”

The story

For an analogous semantic development from the same root, compare Armenian շատ (šat).

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁-

Another origin of quite

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷyeh₁-‘to rest’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷyéh₁tisuncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷjētisuncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēs‘rest, repose’uncertain
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēscō‘repose, lie still’uncertain
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiētus‘quiet, calm’uncertainperfect passive participle of quiēscō
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEquietōas quietāre‘to quiet, calm’uncertain
  8. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500quitāre‘release, discharge, set free’uncertain
  9. Spanishc. 1500–presentquitar‘to remove, to take away, to take down, to take off, to pull off, to pull out, to clear’
  10. Spanish, derivedc. 1500–presentquite‘the action of removal’
  11. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

adv With verbs, especially past participles.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- / quite

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