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)

1. (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.

2. (farriery) Alternative spelling of quittor (“fistulous wound at the top of a horse's foot”)
3. (obsolete) Scoria of tin.

Verb

quitter (third-person singular simple present quitters, present participle quittering, simple past and past participle quittered)

1. To suppurate; ooze with pus.

Etymology 2

From quit +‎ -er.

Noun

quitter (plural quitters)

1. One who quits.

   Winners never quit and quitters never win.

   • 1974 August 8, Richard Nixon, Richard Nixon's resignation speech‎^[1], 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^[2], ITV, 4:14 from the start:

     Well, they underestimated Hartlepool, and they underestimated me because I am a fighter and not a quitter!

2. (obsolete) A deliverer.

Derived terms

• spitters are quitters

Translations

one who quits

• Bulgarian: кръшкач m (krǎškač)
• German: Aufgeber m, Feigling (de) m, Schlappschwanz (de) m

French

Etymology

From quitte +‎ -er, or from Late Latin quietare (“acquit, discharge, release”), from Latin quiētāre (“to calm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ki.te/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

quitter

1. (transitive, law or obsolete) to discharge somebody from an obligation
2. (transitive, of a place) to leave, to quit
3. (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		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (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

1. to release from an obligation; to forgive (a debt)
2. to liberate; to free
3. to pardon
4. 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		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
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 IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (quitter, supplement)

Old French

Etymology

From Medieval Latin quiētus (“at rest”).

Verb

quitter

1. 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 IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (quitter, supplement)
• quitter on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.