Quiten

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cause something to become calm and silent, or to grow still and hush ; an archaic sense meaning to pay back or return what is owed to someone
2. Making a noise or activity settle into stillness and calm ; a dated usage meaning to recompense someone or repay a debt or favour
3. To hush or settle a sound or disturbance into silence ; in older English, to requite a deed by giving back an equal return

Etymology: Before it meant settling accounts, the root of this verb meant "to be still." Late Latin "quietare" came from "quietus," meaning quiet or at rest, and passed into Old French as "quiter." There the sense shifted from calming someone to setting them free, so a person released from a debt or obligation was, in effect, put at rest with respect to it. The Middle English verb "quiten" carried several of these senses at once: to release someone, to acquit, to pay off a debt, and to repay a favour or an injury in kind. Its modern descendant is "quit," which shares the same ancestry and survives in phrases like "to be quits," meaning that two parties have squared what they owed each other.

Synonyms: quiet

Antonyms: loud, noisy