different between quaint vs quixotic
quaint
English
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) enPR: kw?nt, IPA(key): /kwe?nt/, [k?we??nt]
- Rhymes: -e?nt
Etymology 1
From Middle English queynte, quoynte, from Anglo-Norman cointe, queinte and Old French cointe (“pretty, clever, knowing”), from Latin cognitus, past participle of cogn?sc? (“I know”).
Adjective
quaint (comparative quainter, superlative quaintest)
- (obsolete) Of a person: cunning, crafty. [13th-19th c.]
- 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI part 2:
- But you, my Lord, were glad to be imploy'd, / To shew how queint an Orator you are.
- 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI part 2:
- (obsolete) Cleverly made; artfully contrived. [14th-19th c.]
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IX:
- describe races and games, / Or tilting furniture, imblazon'd shields, / Impresses quaint, caparisons and steeds, / Bases and tinsel trappings [...].
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IX:
- (now dialectal) Strange or odd; unusual. [from 14th c.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.4:
- Till that there entered on the other side / A straunger knight, from whence no man could reed, / In quyent disguise, full hard to be descride […].
- 1924, Time, 17 Nov 1924:
- What none would dispute though many smiled over was the good-humored, necessary, yet quaint omission of the writer's name from the whole consideration.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.4:
- (obsolete) Overly discriminating or needlessly meticulous; fastidious; prim. [15th-19th c.]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:
- She, nothing quaint / Nor 'sdeignfull of so homely fashion, / Sith brought she was now to so hard constraint, / Sate downe upon the dusty ground anon [...].
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:
- Pleasingly unusual; especially, having old-fashioned charm. [from 18th c.]
- 1815, Jane Austen, Emma:
- I admire all that quaint, old-fashioned politeness; it is much more to my taste than modern ease; modern ease often disgusts me.
- 2011, Ian Sample, The Guardian, 31 Jan 2011:
- The rock is a haven for rare wildlife, a landscape where pretty hedgerows and quaint villages are bordered by a breathtaking, craggy coastline.
- 1815, Jane Austen, Emma:
Synonyms
- (overly discriminating): See also Thesaurus:fastidious
Derived terms
- quaintly
- quaintness
- quaintsome
Translations
Etymology 2
A variant of cunt (possibly as a pun).
Noun
quaint (plural quaints)
- (archaic) The vulva. [from 14th c.]
- c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Wife of Bath's Tale", Canterbury Tales:
- And trewely, as myne housbondes tolde me, / I hadde þe beste queynte þat myghte be.
- 2003, Peter Ackroyd, The Clerkenwell Tales, p. 9:
- The rest looked on, horrified, as Clarice trussed up her habit and in open view placed her hand within her queynte crying, ‘The first house of Sunday belongs to the sun, and the second to Venus.’
- c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Wife of Bath's Tale", Canterbury Tales:
Anagrams
- quinta
Middle English
Adjective
quaint
- Alternative form of queynte
quaint From the web:
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quixotic
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish Quixote, the surname of Don Quixote, the titular character in the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, +? -ic.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kw?k?s?t?k/
- (US) IPA(key): /kw?k?s?t?k/, /kw???z?t?k/, /ki??z?t?k/
- (rare) IPA(key): /ki??t?k/
- Rhymes: -?t?k
Adjective
quixotic (comparative more quixotic, superlative most quixotic)
- Possessing or acting with the desire to do noble and romantic deeds, without thought of realism and practicality; exceedingly idealistic.
- Impulsive.
- Like Don Quixote; romantic to extravagance; absurdly chivalric; apt to be deluded.
Usage notes
Although the term is derived from the name of the character Don Quixote, the letters qu and x are both read as is usual for English spelling (/kw/ and /ks/), possibly due to analogy with exotic. In "Don Quixote", by contrast, the pronunciation more closely resembles the modern Spanish (/k/ and /h~x/).
Derived terms
- quixotically
Translations
quixotic From the web:
- quixotic meaning
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