Etymology

quite

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Today it means: With verbs, especially past participles. Full definition →

First used 14th c.Anglo-Norman quiteinflu. ← English quit ← Middle English quiten
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quite · adverb, interjection1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷyeh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kʷyéh₁tis
  3. Proto-Italic*kʷjētis
  4. Latinquiēs
  5. Latinquiēscō
  6. Medieval Latinquiētus
  7. Anglo-Normanquitter
  8. Middle Englishquiten
  9. Englishquit
  10. Anglo-Normanquiteinflu.
  11. English todayquite

A development of quit, influence by Anglo-Norman quite. Doublet of coy, quit, quiet, and quietus. For an analogous semantic development from the same root, compare Armenian շատ (šat).

quite · noun2

  1. Spanish · derived fromquite
  2. English todayquite

From Spanish quite.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 14th c. With verbs, especially past participles.
  • from 15th c. With prepositional phrases and spatial adverbs.
  • from 15th c. With predicative adjectives.
  • from 16th c. With attributive adjectives, following an (especially indefinite) article; chiefly as expressing contrast, difference etc.
  • from 16th c. Preceding nouns introduced by the indefinite article. Chiefly in negative constructions.
  • from 17th c. With adverbs of manner.
  • from 17th c. Coming before the indefinite article and an attributive adjective. (Now largely merged with moderative senses, below.)
  • from 18th c. With plain adjectives, past participles, and adverbs.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.