Etymograph

English

quitter

Quitter may come from Anglo-Norman quiture, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- ‘to crack, crush (foodstuff), pulverize (grain)’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pekʷ-1‘to crack, crush (foodstuff), pulverize (grain)’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400quiture1uncertain
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quitter1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1395quitter1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English quitter
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible: “Therfor Sathan [...] smoot Joob with a ful wickid…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pekʷ-Wiktionary, English quitter‘to crack, crush (foodstuff), pulverize (grain)’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400quitureWiktionary, English quitteruncertain
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quitterWiktionary, English quitter
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1395quitterWiktionary, English quitter. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible: “Therfor Sathan [...] smoot Joob with a ful wickid…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- ‘to crack, crush (foodstuff), pulverize (grain)’

coach, cook, kitchen, pumpkin, cuisine, culinary, kiln, concoction, ricotta, concoct, peptic, decoction, dyspepsia, 14 more

Today it means

noun Matter flowing from a wound or sore; pus.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quitter”. 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 *pekʷ- / quitter

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