Online Etymology Dictionary

queue (v.): "to stand in a line," 1927 (implied in queuing), from queue (n.). Related: Queued; queueing. Churchill is said to have coined Queuetopia (1950), to describe Britain under Labour or Socialist rule.
quey (n.): "young cow," Scottish and Northern English dialect, late 14c., from Old Norse kviga, apparently from ku "cow" (see cow (n.)).
qui vive: 1726, from French qui voulez-vous qui vive? sentinel's challenge, "whom do you wish to live," literally "(long) live who?" In other words, "whose side are you on?" (The answer might be Vive la France, Vive le roi, etc.) Hence on the qui vive "on the alert."
quib: from Latin quibus "by what (things)?," dative or ablative plural of quid "in what respect? to what extent?; how? why?," neuter of relative pronoun quis (see who). "[A]s a word of frequent occurrence in legal documents ... hence associated with the 'quirks and quillets' of the law." [OED]. Also cf. quibble.
quibble (n.): 1610s, "a pun, a play on words," probably a diminutive of quib "evasion of point at issue" (c.1550); that word's overuse in legal jargon supposedly gave it the association with trivial argument. Meaning "equivocation, evasion of the point" is attested from 1660s.
quibble (v.): "equivocate, evade the point," 1650s, from quibble (n.). Related: Quibbled; quibbling.
quiche (n.): 1949, from French quiche (1810), from German (Alsace-Lorraine dialect) Küche, diminutive of German Kuchen "cake" (see cake (n.)). Became fashionable 1970s; became contemptible 1980s.
quick (adj.): Old English cwic "living, alive," from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz (cf. Old Frisian quik, Old Norse kvikr "living, alive," Old High German quec "lively," German keck "bold"), from PIE root *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]
Quick-witted is from 1520s. Related: Quickness.
quicken (v.): c.1300, from quick + -en (1). Related: Quickened; quickening.
quickie (n.): "sex act done hastily," 1940, from quick (adj.) + -ie.
quicklime (n.): c.1400, from quick + lime (n.1). A loan-translation of Latin calx viva.
quickly (adv.): late Old English cwiculice; see quick + -ly (2).
quicksand (n.): c.1400, from Middle English quyk "living" (see quick) + sond "sand" (see sand (n.)). Old English had cwecesund, but this might have meant "lively strait of water."
quicksilver (n.): Old English cwicseolfor, translating Latin argentum vivum (cf. Italian argento vivo), literally "living silver;" so called from its liquid mobility. See quick + silver (n.).
quid (n.1): "bite-sized piece" (of tobacco, etc.), 1727, dialectal variant of Middle English cudde, from Old English cudu, cwidu (see cud).
quid (n.2): "one pound sterling," 1680s, British slang, possibly from quid "that which is" (c.1600, see quiddity), as used in quid pro quo (q.v.).
quid pro quo: 1560s, from Latin, literally "something for something, one thing for another," from nominative and ablative neuter singulars of relative pronoun qui "who" (see who) + pro "for" (see pro-).
quiddity (n.): 1530s, "captious nicety in argument" from Medieval Latin quidditas, literally "whatness," from Latin quid "what," neuter of indefinite pronoun quis "somebody, someone or other" (see who). Sense developed from scholastic disputes over the nature of things. Original meaning "real essence or nature of a thing" is attested in English from 1560s.
quidnunc (n.): "gossip-monger," 1709, formed from Latin quid "what?" (neuter of interrogative pronoun quis "who?;" see who) and nunc "now" (see now), to describe someone forever asking "What's the news?"
quiescent (adj.): c.1600, from Latin quiescens, present participle of quiescere, from quies "rest, quiet" (see while). Quiescence is from 1630s. Quiesce is used in English from 1828.
quiet (adj.): late 14c., "peaceable, at rest, restful, tranquil," from Old French quiet and directly from Latin quietus (see quiet (n.)). Related: Quietly; quietness.
quiet (n.): c.1300, "freedom from disturbance or conflict," from Old French quiete, from Latin quies (genitive quietis) "rest, quiet," from PIE root *qwi- "rest" (cf. Gothic hveila, Old English hwil "space of time;" see while (n.)). Late 14c. as "inactivity, rest, repose."
quiet (v.): late 14c., "subdue, lessen," from Latin quietare (see quiet (n.)). From mid-15c. as "to make silent." Related: Quieted; quieting.
quietism (n.): 1680s, from quiet (adj.) on model of mysticism; originally in reference to the mysticism of Miguel Molinos (1640-1697), Spanish priest in Rome, whose "Guida spirituale" was published 1675 and condemned by the Inquisition in 1685.
quietude (n.): 1590s, from French quiétude (c.1500) or directly from Late Latin quietudo, from quietus (see quiet (n.)).
quietus (n.): "discharge," 1530s, short for Latin phrase quietus est "he is quit" (see quit).
quiff (n.): "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 (n.): c.1400, "piece of reed or hollow stem," probably related to Middle High German kil "quill," from Low German 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-French quilte, Old French cuilte "quilt, mattress" (12c.), from Latin culcita "mattress," of unknown origin. Sense of "thick outer bed covering" is first recorded 1590s.
quilt (v.): 1550s, from quilt (n.). Related: Quilted; quilting.
quilter (n.): late 13c. (late 12c. as a surname); agent noun from quilt (v.).
quim (n.): slang for "vulva, vagina," 1610s, of unknown origin.
quin (n.): 1935, short for quintuplet, one of five.
quince (n.): early 14c., plural of quoyn, from Old French cooin, from Latin cotoneum malum "quince fruit," probably a variant of cydonium malum, from Greek kydonion malon "apple of Kydonia" (modern Khania), ancient seaport city in Crete. The plant is native to Persia, Anatolia, and Greece; the Greeks imported grafts for their native plants from a superior strain in Crete, hence the name. Kodu- was also the Lydian name for the fruit.
quincunx (n.): 1640s, originally astrological, of planetary alignments, from Latin, literally "five twelfths" (especially "five unciae," that is, "five-twelfths of an as," the basic unit of Roman currency), from quinque "five" (see quinque-) + uncia "ounce; a twelfth part (of anything)," related to unus "one" (see one). Applied, especially in garden design, to arrangements like the five pips on a playing card (1660s). Related: Quincuncial.
quinella (n.): form of betting in which the bettor picks the first and second horses in a given race, 1942, American English, from American Spanish quiniela, originally a ball game with five players, from Latin quini "five each," from quinque "five" (see quinque-). The sense evolution in Spanish was said to be from the game to a wager on the scores of the players, hence "any wager against the house."
quinine (n.): alkaloid responsible for curative properties in the cinchona tree, 1826, from French quinine (1820), with chemical ending -ine (2) + Spanish quina "cinchona bark" (from which it is extracted), from Quechua (Peru) kina. Earlier in reduplicated form quinaquina (1727).
quinoa (n.): 1620s, from Spanish spelling of Quechua kinua.
quinque-: before vowels quinqu-, word-forming element meaning "five, having five," from Latin quinque "five," by assimilation from PIE *penkwe (see five).
quinquennial (adj.): late 15c., "lasting five years," from Latin quinquennis "of five years, celebrated every fifth year," from quinque- "five" (see quinque-) + ending from biennial, etc. Meaning "happening once every five years" attested from c.1600. As a noun from 1895; earlier quinquennal (1610s).
quinsy (n.): "severe sore throat," c.1300, qwinaci, from Old French quinancie, from Late Latin cynanche, from Greek kynankhe "dog strangling," originally "dog collar," from kyon (genitive kynos) "dog" (see canine) + ankhein "to strangle," cognate with Latin angere (see anger (v.)).
quint (n.): 1520s, "a tax of one-fifth," from Middle French quint, from Latin quintus, ordinal to quinque "five" (see quinque-). First attested 1935 as a shortening of quintuplet (American English; British preferred quin); used originally of the Dionne quintuplets, born May 28, 1934, near Callander, Ontario, Canada.
quinta (n.): "country house, villa," 1754, from Spanish and Portuguese quinta, originally a farm and house let out for a rent of one-fifth of its produce, from Latin quintus, related to quinque "five" (see quinque-).
quintain (n.): c.1400 (in Anglo-Latin from mid-13c.), from Old French quintaine or directly from Medieval Latin quintana, perhaps from Latin quintana "fifth" (see quinque-), the name of the business part of a camp, on the supposition that this was where military exercises were done.
quintal (n.): "a weight of a hundred pounds," late 15c., from Old French quintal, from Medieval Latin quintale, from Arabic quintar, from Late Greek kentenarion, from Latin centenarius "containing a hundred" (see centenary).
quintessence (n.): early 15c., in ancient and medieval philosophy, "pure essence, substance of which the heavenly bodies are composed," literally "fifth essence," from Middle French quinte essence (14c.), from Medieval Latin quinta essentia, from Latin quinta, fem. of quintus "fifth" (see quinque-) + essentia (see Parousia). A loan-translation of Greek pempte ousia, the "ether" added by Aristotle to the four known elements (water, earth, fire, air) and said to permeate all things. Its extraction was one of the chief goals of alchemy. Sense of "purest essence" (of a situation, character, etc.) is first recorded 1580s.
quintessential (adj.): c.1600, from quintessence (Medieval Latin quint essentia) + -al (1). Related: Quintessentially.
quintet (n.): 1811, "composition for five voices," from Italian quintetto, diminutive of quinto "fifth," from Latin quintus, related to quinque "five" (see quinque-). Meaning "set of five singers or players" is from 1882.
quintile (n.): early 17c., originally in astrology, from Latin quintus "fifth" (see quinque-) + -ile, from quartile. Use in statistics dates to 1951.
quintillion (n.): 1670s, from Latin quintus "fifth" (see quinque-) + ending from million. Cf. billion. In Great Britain, the fifth power of a million (1 followed by 30 zeroes); in U.S. the sixth power of a thousand (1 followed by 18 zeroes).