quittance means A release or acquittal. It carries an Arena rating of 1769, earned across 69 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, quittance ranks #3,637 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,641 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #4,140 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,727 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
quittance is pronounced /ˈkwɪtəns/.
Why “quittance” is a great word
QUITTANCE — [Noun] A formal document or release discharging one from a debt or obligation. From Middle English quytaunce, from Old French quitance, from Latin quietantia (“a quieting, discharge”), from quietare (“to quiet, to set at rest”). First attested in the 13th century. Unlike a “receipt,” which merely acknowledges payment, or an “acquittal,” which declares innocence in law, a quittance is the definitive severance of a binding claim. It is the notary’s seal pressed into cooled wax, the cancelled promissory note fed to the fire, and the heavy ledger book closed with a final thud—the material proof that an old weight is lifted, leaving only the quiet geometry of a settled account.
Etymology
From Middle English quytaunce, from Old French quitance (modern French quittance), from Latin quietantia. The verb is derived from the noun.
noun
- A release or acquittal.
- A discharge from a debt or obligation; a document that shows this discharge.e.g.“I marvel why I answer’d not again;
But that’s all one: omittance is no quittance.” — c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, publ
- Recompense; return; repayment.e.g.“Qu[een]. Ah Mortimer! now breaks the kings hate forth,
And he confesseth that he loues me not.
Mor[timer] iu[nior]. Crie quittance Madam then, & loue not him.” — 1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, (plea
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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