Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To cease or discontinue: synonym: stop.
  • intransitive verb To resign from or relinquish.
  • intransitive verb To depart from; leave.
  • intransitive verb To leave the company of.
  • intransitive verb Computers To exit (an application).
  • intransitive verb To rid oneself of by paying.
  • intransitive verb To release from a burden or responsibility.
  • intransitive verb Archaic To conduct (oneself) in a specified way.
  • intransitive verb To cease an action or cease working properly; stop.
  • intransitive verb To abandon an activity out of frustration or despair; give up.
  • intransitive verb To resign from or leave a job.
  • adjective Absolved of a duty or an obligation; free.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Discharged or released from a debt, penalty, or obligation; on even terms; absolved; free; clear.
  • noun Same as queet.
  • noun The popular name of numerous small birds of Jamaica, belonging to different genera and families.
  • noun A term introduced by Professor H. A. Newton to denote the point on the celestial sphere from which the motion of a body is at any moment directed: thus, the earth's quit is always a point on the ecliptic about 90° east of the sun. The quit is opposite to the goal. See goal, 7.
  • To satisfy, as a claim or debt; discharge, as an obligation or duty; make payment for or of; pay; repay; requite.
  • To set free; release; absolve; acquit; exonerate.
  • To free, as from something harmful or oppressing; relieve; clear; liberate: with of.
  • To meet the claims upon, or expectations entertained of; conduct; acquit: used reflexively.
  • To complete; spend: said of time.
  • To depart from; go away from; leave.
  • To resign; give up; let go.
  • To forsake; abandon.
  • In archery, to discharge; shoot.
  • To extract; get rid of.
  • To remove by force.
  • To cease; stop; give over.
  • Synonyms and Desert, Abandon, etc. See forsake.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of small passerine birds native of tropical America. See Banana quit, under banana, and guitguit.
  • adjective Released from obligation, charge, penalty, etc.; free; clear; absolved; acquitted.
  • intransitive verb To go away; to depart; to stop doing a thing; to cease.
  • transitive verb rare To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or oppressive; to relieve; to clear; to liberate.
  • transitive verb To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, or the like; to absolve; to acquit.
  • transitive verb To discharge, as an obligation or duty; to meet and satisfy, as a claim or debt; to make payment for or of; to requite; to repay.
  • transitive verb To meet the claims upon, or expectations entertained of; to conduct; to acquit; -- used reflexively.
  • transitive verb obsolete To carry through; to go through to the end.
  • transitive verb To have done with; to cease from; to stop; hence, to depart from; to leave; to forsake
  • transitive verb to pay; to reimburse.
  • transitive verb to make even; to clear mutually from demands.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive, archaic To pay (a debt, fine etc.).
  • verb transitive, obsolete To repay (someone) for (something).
  • verb transitive, obsolete To repay, pay back (a good deed, injury etc.).
  • verb reflexive, archaic To conduct oneself, acquit oneself, to behave (in a specified way).
  • verb transitive To abandon, renounce (a thing).
  • verb transitive To leave (a place).
  • verb transitive, intransitive To resign from (a job, office, position, etc.).

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English quiten, to release, from Old French quiter, from Medieval Latin quiētāre, quītāre, from Latin quiētus, at rest; see quiet.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman quiter, Old French quiter, from quite ("acquited, quit"), ultimately from Latin quietus.

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