quid - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Borrowed from Latin quid (“what, something”), neuter singular of quis (“who”).

quid (plural quids)

  1. The inherent nature of something.
  2. (US, historical) A member of a section of the Democratic-Republican Party between 1805 and 1811, following John Randolph of Roanoke. (From tertium quid.)
    Synonym: Quiddist
  3. Paired with quo, in reference to the phrase quid pro quo (“this for that”): something offered in exchange for something else.
    • 1886 May 19, Report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Electric Lighting Act (1882) Amendment (No. 1) Bill [H.L.]; the Electric Lighting Act (1882) Amendment (No. 2) Bill [H.L.]; Together with the Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, and Appendix, London: […] Henry Hansard and Son, page 208:
      […]; but what is the quo for which they ought to give the quid? you say they ought to give a quid pro quo; what is the quo? […]; did not they give you a pretty handsome quid for the quo there?
    • 2000, Andrew Stark, Conflict of Interest in American Public Life, →ISBN, pages 163–164:
      Indeed, asymmetry precludes the possibility of pointing to any particular quo that is meant to recompense the quid. […] If there exists any kind of inequity between quid and quo, then—on this line of argument—the expansive category of “friendship” emerges to account for it, siphoning the situation away from the class of objectionable quid pro quo. The claim officials here make—that for a quid to have a quo there must be some equivalency between the two—draws theoretical sustenance from the objective, exclusionary approach that critics of classical contract law apply to disproportionate exchanges.
    • 2009, George G. Brenkert, Tom L. Beaucham, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Business Ethics, Oxford University Press, page 504:
      Corruption, the Court declared in Buckley v. Valeo, involves a quid pro quo: an officeholder doing something in office in return for money or some other favor provided by another individual or entity (for our purposes, a corporation). The problem, however, is that in principle there can be a quid—the money or favor offered by the business to the official—and a quo—the action taken by the official that benefits the business—without any clear evidence of a pro, that is, that the two are connected. […] The “pro,” the connection between quid and quo, might take place only inside the minds of the official and businessperson concerned.
    • 2020, John Yoo, Defender in Chief: Donald Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power, New York, N.Y.: All Points Books, St. Martin’s Publishing Group, →ISBN:
      It is hard to pull off a quid pro quo if the holder of the quo doesn’t know about the quid.

Likely derives from the phrase quid pro quo (“this for that”), referring to the exchange of goods/services for money.

quid (plural **quid or (rare) quids)

  1. (historical) A sovereign or guinea, that is, a certain coin or amount of money.
    • 1870, Charles Reade, Put Yourself in His Place:
      They invited him to come to-morrow, […] and bring half a quid with him.
  2. (UK, colloquial) Pound sterling. (usually used with a whole number of pounds)
    Synonyms: pound, (slang) nicker, (slang) sov
    Seven quid for a toastie? Are you taking the mick?!
    • 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
      Isn't this the chance of a lifetime? Have either of you ever made a couple of quids at once in your puff before—pinching goods from the back of delivery vans and smooching lead off empty houses?
    • 1999 April 19, Victoria Coren, “I don't love you. PS: you owe me £2.50”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 8 May 2014:
      When I worked in a toyshop, I once bought the manageress a sandwich. Do I still work there? No. Our relationship is, therefore, over. Has she given me the quid back? No.
    • 2025 November 12, Christian Wolmar, “A proper BTP presence is worth every penny”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 41:
      I have mentioned before how impressed I was when I used a Glasgow suburban train late one Saturday night, when I reached Queen Street the barriers were closed and I had to cough up a princely couple of quid before being allowed through.
  3. (Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial, historical) Various national currencies typically known by the name "pound".
  4. (Ireland, colloquial, by extension) Euro.
  5. (Commonwealth, colloquial, by extension, rare) Dollar, dollars.

From Middle English quide, quede, from Old English cwidu, cwudu (“that which is chewed, cud”). Doublet of cud.

quid (plural quids)

  1. A piece of material for chewing, especially chewing tobacco.
    • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Israel Hands”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part V (My Sea Adventure), page 210:
      Then he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out a stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid.
    • 1901, W. W. Jacobs, chapter 1, in Light Freights, page 1:
      He broke off to open a small brass tobacco-box and place a little quid of tobacco tenderly into a pouch in his left cheek, […]
  2. (US, colloquial) The act of chewing such tobacco.

quid (third-person singular simple present quids, present participle quidding, simple past and past participle quidded)

  1. To chew tobacco.
  2. (of a horse) To let food drop from the mouth whilst chewing.

Learned borrowing from Latin quid. Doublet of que.

quid m (plural quids)

  1. crux, gist, core
    Synonyms: nus, viu
    • 1980, Enric Valor, Sense la terra promesa, I:
      Totes les lucubracions, interpretacions, acumulacions, que s'havien fet al seu propòsit en llarga corrua de segles de cristianisme, més que aclarar-li la grandesa i profunditat d'aquelles vides, li les enterbolia. Ell maldava per despullar-ho tot d'aquella inútil fullaraca i trobar-ne el quid simplicíssim. Maria havia vingut a donar exemple d'humilitat; Jesucrist, a predicar justícia.
      All the meditations, interpretations, accumulations which had been made on this proposition in the long course of centuries of Christianity, rather than clarifying for him the greatness and profundity of these lives, had clouded them. He made an effort to clear away all the rubbish and find in it the very simple gist. Mary had come to give an example of humility; Jesus Christ, to preach justice.

Learned borrowing from Latin quid. Doublet of que and quoi.

quid

  1. (informal, originally humorous) what about
    Synonyms: quoi, qu'en est-il de
    Quid de la transparence du programme ?
    What about the program's transparency?
    • 2025 September 14, Olivier Biscaye, “Sébastien Lecornu : “Ni instabilité ni immobilisme””, in La Provence:

quid m (invariable)

  1. a certain something (that is somehow undefinable)

From Proto-Italic *kʷid, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid; compare *kʷís.

The sense “why” is an adverbial accusative; compare Ancient Greek τί (tí).

quid

  1. neuter nominative/accusative singular of quis
    Quid dīcam?
    What can I say?
  2. (internal accusative) what, how?
    • Aeneid 12.872 by Vergil
      Quid nunc tē tua, Turne, potest germāna iuvāre?
      How will your sister help you now, Turnus?

quid (not comparable)

  1. why? what for?

quid

  1. well, why, what?
    Quid, an nescīs
    What, you mean you don't know?
    . Used to express surprise, objection, or a demand for explanation; often reacting to a preceding statement rather than introducing a genuine question.
    • Pompeius, Commentum in Artis Donati partem tertiam Keil, GL V, p. 287/14 = Zago (2017), p. 16/7:
      (discussing moetacism) Plērumque enim aut suspēnsiōne prōnuntiātur aut exclūsiōne […] Nōs quid sequī dēbēmus? Quid, per suspēnsiōnem tantum modo. Quā ratiōne? Quia si […]
      It's mostly pronounced either by pausing or by leaving it out […] Which solution should we adopt? Why, only by pausing. What is the reason? Because if […]

Note: Almost all the Romance languages (with Eastern Romance and Dalmatian being the only exceptions) usurp most, if not all the roles of quod.

quid m (plural quids or quides)

  1. gist; point
    Synonym: esencia
  2. crux
    Synonym: meollo