Etymology

quid pro quo

Today it means: Something which is understood as something else; an equivocation. Full definition →

Latin quid prō quō
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromquid prō quō
  2. English todayquid pro quo

Borrowed from Latin quid prō quō (literally “something for something”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.