- quit (adj.)
- early 13c., "free, clear," from O.Fr. quite "free, clear," from L. quietus "free" (in M.L. "free from war, debts, etc."), also "calm, resting" (see quiet). The verb is first attested c.1300, "to set free, redeem" (usually of a debt or suspicion); sense of "leave" is attested from late 14c.; that of "to leave (a place)" is from c.1600; that of "stop" (doing something) is from 1640s. Meaning "to give up" is from mid-15c.; quitting time is from 1835; quitter as an insult is 1881, American English. Quits "even" (with another) is from 1660s.