quiter

Middle French

Alternative forms

• quitter

Etymology

From Old French quitter (“to liberate”); equivalent to modern French quitte + -er.

Verb

quiter

1. to leave (to depart; to cease to be a part of)

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of quiter

infinitive	simple	quiter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	quitant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		quité
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	quite	quites	quite	quitons	quitez	quitent
	imperfect	quitois, quitoys	quitois, quitoys	quitoit, quitoyt	quitions, quityons	quitiez, quityez	quitoient, quitoyent
	past historic	quita	quitas	quita	quitasmes	quitastes	quiterent
	future	quiterai, quiteray	quiteras	quitera	quiterons	quiterez	quiteront
	conditional	quiterois, quiteroys	quiterois, quiteroys	quiteroit, quiteroyt	quiterions, quiteryons	quiteriez, quiteryez	quiteroient, quiteroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	quite	quites	quite	quitons	quitez	quitent
	imperfect	quitasse	quitasses	quitast	quitassions	quitassiez	quitassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	quite	—	quitons	quitez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: quitter

Further reading

• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Quiter”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.