quitter
English
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkwɪ.tə/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪtə(ɹ)
- Homophone: quittor
Etymology 1
From Middle English quitter, from Anglo-Norman quiture, quyture et al., specialised use of quiture (“burn mark, burning”), from the participle stem of cuire (“to cook”), or from Latin coctura (“cooking”).
Alternative forms
- quittor (obsolete except farriery)
- quitture (obsolete)
Noun
quitter (uncountable)
- (now rare outside Jamaica) Matter flowing from a wound or sore; pus.
- 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible, Job II:
- Therfor Sathan [...] smoot Joob with a ful wickid botche fro the sole of the foot til to his top; which Joob schauyde the quytere with a schelle, and sat in the dunghil.
- 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible, Job II:
- (farriery) Alternative spelling of quittor (“fistulous wound at the top of a horse's foot”)
- (obsolete) Scoria of tin.
Verb
quitter (third-person singular simple present quitters, present participle quittering, simple past and past participle quittered)
- To suppurate; ooze with pus.
Etymology 2
From quit + -er.
Noun
quitter (plural quitters)
- One who quits.
- Winners never quit and quitters never win.
- 1974 August 8, Richard Nixon, Richard Nixon's resignation speech, CBSN, 2:00 from the start:
- I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as president, I must put the interests of America first.
- 2001, Peter Mandelson, 2001 victory speech, ITV, 4:14 from the start:
- Well, they underestimated Hartlepool, and they underestimated me because I am a fighter and not a quitter!
- (obsolete) A deliverer.
Derived terms
- spitters are quitters
Translations
one who quits
|
French
Etymology
From quitte + -er, or from Late Latin quietare (“acquit, discharge, release”), from Latin quiētāre, present active infinitive of quiētō (“to calm”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ki.te/
audio (file)
Verb
quitter
- (transitive, law or obsolete) to discharge somebody from an obligation
- (transitive, of a place) to leave, to quit
- (transitive, of a person) to part with somebody, to leave somebody
Conjugation
Conjugation of quitter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | quitter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | quittant /ki.tɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | quitté /ki.te/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | quitte /kit/ | quittes /kit/ | quitte /kit/ | quittons /ki.tɔ̃/ | quittez /ki.te/ | quittent /kit/ |
| imperfect | quittais /ki.tɛ/ | quittais /ki.tɛ/ | quittait /ki.tɛ/ | quittions /ki.tjɔ̃/ | quittiez /ki.tje/ | quittaient /ki.tɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | quittai /ki.te/ | quittas /ki.ta/ | quitta /ki.ta/ | quittâmes /ki.tam/ | quittâtes /ki.tat/ | quittèrent /ki.tɛʁ/ | |
| future | quitterai /ki.tʁe/ | quitteras /ki.tʁa/ | quittera /ki.tʁa/ | quitterons /ki.tʁɔ̃/ | quitterez /ki.tʁe/ | quitteront /ki.tʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | quitterais /ki.tʁɛ/ | quitterais /ki.tʁɛ/ | quitterait /ki.tʁɛ/ | quitterions /ki.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ | quitteriez /ki.tə.ʁje/ | quitteraient /ki.tʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | quitte /kit/ | quittes /kit/ | quitte /kit/ | quittions /ki.tjɔ̃/ | quittiez /ki.tje/ | quittent /kit/ |
| imperfect2 | quittasse /ki.tas/ | quittasses /ki.tas/ | quittât /ki.ta/ | quittassions /ki.ta.sjɔ̃/ | quittassiez /ki.ta.sje/ | quittassent /ki.tas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | quitte /kit/ | — | quittons /ki.tɔ̃/ | quittez /ki.te/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
- ne pas quitter d'une semelle
- ne pas quitter des yeux
- quittance
- quitter le navire
Related terms
- acquitter
Further reading
- “quitter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Etymology
Old French quitter.
Verb
quitter
- to release from an obligation; to forgive (a debt)
- to liberate; to free
- to pardon
- to leave
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of quitter
| infinitive | simple | quitter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | quittant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | quitté | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | quitte | quittes | quitte | quittons | quittez | quittent |
| imperfect | quittois, quittoys | quittois, quittoys | quittoit, quittoyt | quittions, quittyons | quittiez, quittyez | quittoient, quittoyent | |
| past historic | quitta | quittas | quitta | quittasmes | quittastes | quitterent | |
| future | quitterai, quitteray | quitteras | quittera | quitterons | quitterez | quitteront | |
| conditional | quitterois, quitteroys | quitterois, quitteroys | quitteroit, quitteroyt | quitterions, quitteryons | quitteriez, quitteryez | quitteroient, quitteroyent | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que ie (i’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ilz, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | quitte | quittes | quitte | quittons | quittez | quittent |
| imperfect | quittasse | quittasses | quittast | quittassions | quittassiez | quittassent | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | quitte | — | quittons | quittez | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679. | |||||||
| 2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180). | |||||||
Descendants
- French: quitter
References
- quitter on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (quitter, supplement)
Old French
Etymology
From Medieval Latin quiētus (“at rest”).
Verb
quitter
- to liberate; to free
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-tt, *-tts, *-ttt are modified to t, z, t. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
Conjugation of quitter (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | quitter | avoir quitté | |||||
| gerund | en quittant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | quittant | ||||||
| past participle | quitté | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses | present | quit | quittes | quitte | quittons | quittez | quittent |
| imperfect | quittoie, quitteie, quittoe, quitteve | quittoies, quitteies, quittoes, quitteves | quittoit, quitteit, quittot, quitteve | quittiiens, quittiens | quittiiez, quittiez | quittoient, quitteient, quittoent, quittevent | |
| preterite | quittai | quittas | quitta | quittames | quittastes | quitterent | |
| future | quitterai | quitteras | quittera | quitterons | quitteroiz, quittereiz, quitterez | quitteront | |
| conditional | quitteroie, quittereie | quitteroies, quittereies | quitteroit, quittereit | quitteriiens, quitteriens | quitteriiez, quitteriez | quitteroient, quittereient | |
| compound tenses | present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
| simple tenses | present | quit | quiz | quit | quittons | quittez | quittent |
| imperfect | quittasse | quittasses | quittast | quittissons, quittissiens | quittissoiz, quittissez, quittissiez | quittassent | |
| compound tenses | past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | quitte | — | quittons | quittez | — | ||
Descendants
- → English: quit
- French: quitter
References
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (quitter, supplement)
- quitter on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.