Etymograph

English

quite

Quite developed from English quit (Middle English quiten, Anglo-Norman quitter), from Medieval Latin quiētus, from Latin quiēscō ‘to rest’, ultimately from PIE *kʷyeh₁- ‘to rest’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷyeh₁-1‘to rest’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēs1‘rest, repose’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēscō1‘to rest’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500quiētus1‘at rest, free’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400quitter1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quiten1
  7. English1500–presentquit1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590quite1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English quite
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VIII: “Thus when they had the witch diſrobed quight, /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷyeh₁-Wiktionary, English quite‘to rest’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēsWiktionary, English quite‘rest, repose’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēscōWiktionary, English quite‘to rest’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500quiētusWiktionary, English quite‘at rest, free’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400quitterWiktionary, English quite
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quitenWiktionary, English quite
  7. English1500–presentquitWiktionary, English quite
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590quiteWiktionary, English quite. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VIII: “Thus when they had the witch diſrobed quight, /…”

The story

For an analogous semantic development from the same root, compare Armenian շատ (šat).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Explore everything descended from *kʷyeh₁- →

Another origin of quite

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷyeh₁-‘to rest’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷyéh₁tisuncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷjētisuncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēs‘rest, repose’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiēscō‘repose, lie still’uncertain
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquiētus‘quiet, calm’uncertainperfect passive participle of quiēscō
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEquietōas quietāre‘to quiet, calm’uncertain
  8. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500quitāre‘release, discharge, set free’uncertain
  9. Spanishc. 1500–presentquitar‘to remove, to take away, to take down, to take off, to pull off, to pull out, to clear’
  10. Spanishc. 1500–presentquite‘the action of removal’
  11. Englishtodayquite

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Today it means

adv With verbs, especially past participles.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quite”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- / quite