Quite

How to spell quite

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce quite

What does quite mean?

1. adverbTo a noticeable degree, or in some uses completely and entirely.

Quite in a sentence

• The meeting ran quite a bit longer than scheduled.

• She was quite certain she had locked the front door.

Where does quite come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Quite began life as a variant of the Middle English word 'quit' (also spelled 'quite'), which meant free, clear, or discharged from an obligation, the same word that gives us 'quit' and 'acquit' today. It came into English through Old French 'quite', from Medieval Latin 'quietus', meaning at rest, free, or released, which is also the root of 'quiet'. From the original sense of being fully released or fully discharged, the word drifted toward the idea of completeness, so 'quite' came to mean wholly or entirely. Over time, particularly in British usage, it softened into a gentler degree word meaning fairly or rather, while in much of American usage it kept a stronger flavour closer to very. The shared Latin ancestor 'quietus' explains why 'quite' and 'quiet' look so similar and are so often swapped in writing, even though they sound different and mean different things.

How the word is built

• quit- (from Middle English quit, quite: free, clear, fully)
• -e (silent final vowel)