Kwit

Part of speech: verb, interjection

Definitions

1. To cease or abandon a job, task, or position voluntarily; to stop owing a debt or obligation; to avoid or evade responsibility in various contexts
2. To voluntarily leave or resign from employment or a commitment; to discharge or clear a financial liability; to relinquish accountability or duties by choice
3. To end participation in an activity or duty by personal decision; to settle or write off a financial claim or responsibility; to evade or give up an obligation willingly

Etymology: Its deepest root is the Latin "quietus," meaning "at rest," the same root that gives English "quiet." Medieval Latin clerks wrote "quietus est," meaning "he is released," as a receipt confirming that a debt had been paid. Old French turned this into "quiter," to release someone from an obligation, and English borrowed the verb from there. The core sense of release from a duty runs through its modern uses: a worker walks away from a job, a tenant leaves a lease, a debtor is cleared of a payment. The interjection "quits!" keeps the bookkeeping idea alive, meaning two parties now owe each other nothing. English also kept "quietus," the old receipt word, which came to mean a final discharge or death.

Synonyms: quit, resign, leave, depart, exit

Antonyms: start, begin, continue, stay, remain