quit

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb put an end to a state or an activity
  2. verb give up or retire from a position
  3. verb go away or leave

Etymology

From Middle English quiten, quyten, from Anglo-Norman quitter, Old French quitter, from quitte (“acquitted, quit”), ultimately from Latin quietus, which itself derives from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyéh₁-ti-s, from *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest”). Doublet of coy, quite, quiet, and quietus. Compare Dutch kwijten (“to quit”), German Low German quitten (“to quit”), German quitten, quittieren, Danish kvitte, Swedish qvitta, kvitta (“to quit, leave, set off”), Icelandic kvitta.

In classic literature

Synonyms

discontinue, stop, cease, give up, lay off

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