Online Etymology Dictionary

quartet: 1773, "musical composition for four instruments or voices," from Fr. quartette, from It. quartetto, dim. of quarto "fourth," from L. quartus "fourth." Meaning "set of four singers or musical performers" is from 1814.
quartile: 1450, from M.Fr. quartil, from M.L. quartilus "of a quartile," from L. quartus "fourth."
quarto: late 15c., from M.L. in quarto "in the fourth (part of a sheet of paper)," from quarto, abl. sing. of L. quartus "fourth" (see quart).
quartz: 1756, from Ger. Quarz "rock crystal," from M.H.G. twarc, probably from a W.Slavic source (cf. Czech tvrdy, Polish twardy "quartz"), from O.C.S. tvrudu "hard."
quasar: 1964, from "quas(i-stell)ar radio source" (1963).
quash: "to make void, annul, crush," early 14c., from O.Fr. quasser "to break, smash," from L. quassare "to shatter," frequentative of quatere "to shake" (pp. quassus). Meaning "suppress" is from M.L. quassare "make null and void," from L. cassus "empty, void," influenced by quassare.
quasi: late 15c., from L., "as if," from quam "as much as" + si "if."
quasimodo: "Low Sunday," 1706, Quasimodo Sunday, from L. quasi modo, first words of introit for the first Sunday after Easter: quasi modo geniti infantes "as newborn babes" (1 Pet. ii:2). The hunchback in Victor Hugo's novel was supposed to have been abandoned as an infant at Notre Dame on this day.
quaternary: c.1430, "consisting of four parts," from L. quaternarius "of four each," from quaterni "four each," from quater "four times," related to quattuor "four" (see four). In geological sense, attested from 1843, proposed 1829 by Fr. geologist Jules Pierre François Stanislas Desnoyers (1800-1887) as name for "the fourth great epoch of geological time," but since it only comprises the age of man, and the other epochs are many hundred times longer, not all accepted it.
quatrain: 1585, from M.Fr. quatrain "four-line stanza," from O.Fr. quatre "four," from L. quattuor "four" (see four).
quattrocento: 1875, "the fifteenth century as a period in art and architecture," from It., lit. "four hundred," short for mille quattrocento "one thousand four hundred."
quaver (v.): "to vibrate, tremble," early 15c., probably frequentative of cwavien "to tremble, shake" (early 13c.), probably related to Low Ger. quabbeln "tremble," possibly of imitative origin. Meaning "sing in trills or quavers" first recorded 1538. The noun meaning "musical note" is first recorded 1570.
quay: 1696, variant of M.E. key "wharf" (1306), from O.N.Fr. cai (O.Fr. chai) "sand bank," from Gaulish caium (5c.), from O.Celt. *kagio- "to encompass, enclose" (cf. Welsh cae "fence, hedge," Cornish ke "hedge"), cognate with O.E. haga "hedge" (see hedge). Spelling altered by infl. of Fr. quai, from the same Celtic source.
quean: "young, robust woman," O.E. cwene "woman," also "female serf, hussy, prostitute" (cf. portcwene "public woman"), from P.Gmc. *kwenon (cf. O.S. quan, O.H.G. quena, O.N. kona, Goth. qino "wife, woman"); see queen. Popular 16c.-17c. in sense "hussy." Sense of "effeminate homosexual" is recorded from 1935, esp. in Australian slang.
queasy: 1459, coysy, possibly from O.N. kveisa "boil," perhaps influenced by Anglo-Fr. queisier, from O.Fr. coisier "to wound, hurt, make uneasy," from the same Gmc. root as kveisa. But history is obscure and evidences of development are wanting.
Quebec: Fr. Canadian, from Micmac (Algonquian) /kepe:k/ "strait, narrows."
Quechua: 1840, from Sp., from Quechua kechua "plunderer, destroyer." Indian people of Peru and surrounding regions.
queen: O.E. cwen "queen, female ruler of a state, woman, wife," from P.Gmc. *kwoeniz, ablaut variant of *kwenon (source of quean), from PIE *gwen- "woman, wife" supposedly originally "honored woman" (cf. Greek gyné "a woman, a wife;" Gaelic bean "woman;" Skt. janis "a woman," gná "wife of a god, a goddess;" Avestan jainish "wife;" Armenian kin "woman;" O.C.S. zena, O.Pruss. genna "woman;" Goth. qino "a woman, wife; qéns "a queen"). English seems unique in I.E. in having a word for "queen" that is not a fem. derivative of the one for "king." The original sense seems to have been "wife," specialized by O.E. to "wife of a king." Used of chess piece from 1440, of playing card from 1575. Of bees from 1609 (until late 17c., they generally were thought to be kings; cf. "Henry V," I.ii). Meaning "male homosexual" (especially a feminine and ostentatious one) first recorded 1924; probably an alteration of quean in this sense. Queens, the New York borough, was named for Catherine of Braganza, queen of English King Charles II. Queen Anne first used 1878 for "style characteristic of the time of Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland," who reigned 1702-14.
Queensberry Rules: drawn up 1867 by Sir John Sholto Douglas (1844-1900), 8th Marquis of Queensberry, to govern the sport of boxing in Great Britain.
queer: 1508, "strange, peculiar, eccentric," from Scottish, perhaps from Low Ger. (Brunswick dialect) queer "oblique, off-center," related to Ger. quer "oblique, perverse, odd," from O.H.G. twerh "oblique," from PIE base *twerk- "to turn, twist, wind" (related to thwart). The verb "to spoil, ruin" is first recorded 1812. Sense of "homosexual" first recorded 1922; the noun in this sense is 1935, from the adj.
quelch: 1659, shortening of squelch, perhaps influenced by quench.
quell: O.E. cwellan "to kill, murder, execute," from P.Gmc. *kwaljanan (cf. O.E. cwelan "to die," cwalu "violent death;" O.S. quellian "to torture, kill;" O.N. kvelja "to torment;" M.Du. quelen "to vex, tease, torment;" O.H.G. quellan "to suffer pain," Ger. qualen "to torment, torture"), from root *kwel-/*kwal- (cf. Armenian kelem "I torture;" O.C.S. zali "pain;" Lith. galas "end," gela "agony," gelati "to sting"). Milder sense of "suppress, extinguish" developed by c.1300.
quench: O.E. acwencan "to quench" (of fire, light), from P.Gmc. *cwandjan, probably a causative form of root of O.E. cwincan "to go out, be extinguished," O.Fris. kwinka.
Quentin: masc. proper name, from Fr., from L. Quin(c)tianus, from quintus "the fifth." Roman children in large families often were names for their birth order (e.g. Sextius).
quern: O.E. cweorn "hand-mill, mill," from PIE base *gwern- (cf. O.N. kvern, O.Fris. quern, O.H.G. quirn, Goth. quirnus; Skt. grava "crushing stone;" Lith. girna "millstone," girnos "hand mills;" O.C.S. zrunuvi "mills;" Welsh brevan "hand mill").
querulous: c.1500, from O.Fr. querelos, from L.L. querulosus, from L. querulus "full of complaints, complaining," from queri "to complain." Retains the original vowel of quarrel (1).
query: 1530s, quære, from L. quære "ask," imperative of quærere "to seek, gain, ask," probably ultimately from PIE *kwo-, base forming the stem of relative and interrogative pronouns. Spelling altered c.1600 by influence of inquiry. The noun in the sense of "a question" is attested from 1630s.
quesadilla: Mexican tortilla w. filling of cheese, etc., 1944, from Sp., dim. of quesada, "type of cheesecake," from queso "cheese," from L. cæseus (see cheese).
quest: c.1300, "a search for something" (esp. of judicial inquiries or hounds seeking game), from O.Fr. queste (Fr. quête), prop. "the act of seeking," from M.L. questa "search, inquiry," alteration of L. quæsitus, pp. of quærere "seek, gain, ask" (see query). Romance sense of "adventure undertaken by a knight" is attested from late 14c. The verb is first recorded mid-14c.
question (n.): c.1300, from Anglo-Fr. questiun, O.Fr. question "legal inquest," from L. quæstionem (nom. quæstio) "a seeking, inquiry," from root of quærere (pp. quæsitus) "ask, seek" (see query). The verb is first recorded 1470, from O.Fr. questionner (13c.). Question mark is from 1869, earlier question stop (1862). Depreciatory sense of questionable is attested from 1806.
questionnaire: 1901, from Fr. questionnaire "list of questions," from questionner "to question," from M.Fr. (see question). Purists preferred native formation questionary (1540s).
Quetzalcoatl: plumed serpent god of the Toltecs and Aztecs, 1578, from Nahuatl quetzalli "tailfeather" + coatl "snake."
queue: 15c., "tail of a beast" (heraldic term), from Fr. queue "a tail," from O.Fr. cue "tail," from L. coda (dialectal variant of cauda) "tail," of unknown origin. The M.E. metaphoric extension to "line of dancers" led to extended sense of "line of people, etc." (1837). Also used 18c. in sense of "braid of hair" (first attested 1748). The verb meaning "to stand in a line" is recorded from 1927 (implied in queuing). Churchill is said to have coined Queuetopia (1950), to describe Britain under Labour or Socialist rule.
qui vive: 1726, from Fr. qui voulez-vous qui vive? sentinel's challenge, "whom do you wish to live," lit. "(long) live who?" In other words, "whose side are you on?"
quibble: 1611, "a pun, a play on words," probably a dim. of quib "evasion of point at issue" (c.1550), from L. quibus "by what (things)?," dative and ablative plural of quid "what," neut. of quis (see who). The word's overuse in legal jargon supposedly gave it the association with trivial argument. Meaning "equivocation, evasion of the point" is attested from 1670. The verb in this sense is from 1656.
quiche: 1949, from Fr. quiche (1810), from Ger. (Alsace-Lorraine dialect) Küche, dim. of Ger. Kuchen "cake." Became fashionable 1970s; became contemptible 1980s.
quick: O.E. cwic "living, alive," from P.Gmc. *kwikwaz (cf. O.Fris. quik, O.N. kvikr "living, alive," O.H.G. quec "lively," Ger. keck "bold"), from PIE base *gwiwo- "to live" (see bio-). Sense of "lively, swift" developed by c.1300, on notion of "full of life."
"NE swift or the now more common fast may apply to rapid motion of any duration, while in quick (in accordance with its original sense of 'live, lively') there is a notion of 'sudden' or 'soon over.' We speak of a fast horse or runner in a race, a quick starter but not a quick horse. A somewhat similar feeling may distinguish NHG schnell and rasch or it may be more a matter of local preference." [Buck]
Quickie "sex act done hastily" is from 1940. Quicklime (c.1400) is loan-translation of L. calx viva.
quicksand: 1400, from M.E. quyk "living" (see quick) + sond "sand." O.E. had cwecesund, but this may have meant "lively strait of water."
quicksilver: O.E. cwicseolfor, translating L. argentum vivum (cf. It. argento vivo), lit. "living silver;" so called from its liquid mobility. See quick + silver.
quid (1): "bite-sized piece" (of tobacco, etc.), 1727, dial. variant of M.E. cudde, from O.E. cudu, cwidu (see cud).
quid (2): "one pound sterling," 1688, British slang, possibly from quid "that which is" (1606, see quiddity), as used in quid pro quo (q.v.).
quid pro quo: 1565, from L., lit. "something for something, one thing for another."
quiddity: 1539, "captious nicety in argument" from M.L. quidditas, lit. "whatness," from L. quid "what," neut. of quis (see who). Sense developed from scholastic disputes over the nature of things. Original meaning "real essence or nature of a thing" is attested in Eng. from 1569.
quidnunc: "gossip-monger," 1709, formed from L. quid "what" and nunc "now," to describe someone forever asking "What's the news?"
quiescent: 1609, from L. quiescens, prp. of quiescere, from quies "rest, quiet" (see while). Quiescence is from 1631.
quiet (n.): c.1300, from O.Fr. quiete, from L. quies (gen. quietis) "rest, quiet," from PIE base *qwi- "rest" (cf. Goth. hveila, O.E. hwil "space of time;" see while). The adj. is attested from 1382; the verb is first attested 1440. Quietism is attested from 1687, on model of mysticism, originally in ref. to the mysticism of Molinas (1640-97), Sp. priest in Rome, whose "Guida spirituale" was published 1675 and condemned by the Inquisition in 1685. Quietude is from 1597.
quiff: "curl or lock of hair over the forehead," 1890, originally a style among soldiers, of unknown origin. Perhaps connected with quiff "a puff or whiff of tobacco smoke" (1831, originally Southern U.S.), held to be a variant of whiff (q.v.).
quill: c.1400, "piece of reed or hollow stem," probably related to M.H.G. kil "quill," from Low Ger. quiele, of unknown origin. Meaning "pens made from quills" is from 1550s; that of "porcupine spines" is from c.1600.
quilt (n.): c.1300, "mattress with soft lining," from Anglo-Fr. quilte, O.Fr. cuilte "quilt, mattress" (12c.), from L. culcita "mattress," of unknown origin. Sense of "thick outer bed covering" is first recorded 1596. The verb is 1555, from the noun.
quim: slang for "vulva, vagina," 1613, of unknown origin.