Brewer's: Quit

Discharged from an obligation, “acquitted.”

To John I owed great obligation; But John unhappily thought fit To publish it to all the nation- Now I and John are fairly quit.

Prior.

Cry quits. When two boys quarrel, and one has had enough, he says, “Cry quits,” meaning, “Let us leave off, and call it a drawn game.” So in an unequal distribution, he who has the largest share restores a portion and “cries quits,” meaning that he has made the distribution equal. Here quit means “acquittal” or discharge.

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language