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10 results for: quaint
quaint 
Audio Help [kweynt] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
Audio Help [kweynt] Pronunciation Key –adjective, -er, -est.
| 1. | having an old-fashioned attractiveness or charm; oddly picturesque: a quaint old house. |
| 2. | strange, peculiar, or unusual in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way: a quaint sense of humor. |
| 3. | skillfully or cleverly made. |
| 4. | Obsolete. wise; skilled. |
[Origin: 1175–1225; ME queinte < OF, var. of cointe clever, pleasing ≪ L cognitus known (ptp. of cognōscere; see cognition)]
] —Related forms
quaintly, adverb
quaintness, noun
—Synonyms 1. antiquated, archaic. 2. curious, uncommon.
—Antonyms 2. ordinary.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
quaint
To learn more about quaint visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| quaint
Audio Help (kwānt) Pronunciation Key
adj. quaint·er, quaint·est
[Middle English, clever, cunning, peculiar, from Old French queinte, cointe, from Latin cognitus, past participle of cognōscere, to learn; see cognition.] quaint'ly adv., quaint'ness n. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
quaint
c.1225, "cunning, proud, ingenious," from O.Fr. cointe "pretty, clever, knowing," from L. cognitus "known," pp. of cognoscere "get or come to know well" (see cognizance). Sense of "old-fashioned but charming" is first attested 1795, and could describe the word itself, which had become rare after c.1700 (though it soon recovered popularity in this secondary sense). Chaucer used quaint and queynte as spellings of cunt in "Canterbury Tales" (1386), and Andrew Marvell may be punning on it similarly in "To His Coy Mistress" (1650).
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| quaint | |
adjective | |
| 1. | strange in an interesting or pleasing way; "quaint dialect words"; "quaint streets of New Orleans, that most foreign of American cities" |
| 2. | very strange or unusual; odd or even incongruous in character or appearance; "the head terminating in the quaint duck bill which gives the animal its vernacular name"- Bill Beatty; "came forth a quaint and fearful sight"- Sir Walter Scott; "a quaint sense of humor" |
| 3. | attractively old-fashioned (but not necessarily authentic); "houses with quaint thatched roofs"; "a vaulted roof supporting old-time chimney pots" [syn: old-time] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
quaint [kweint] adjective
pleasantly odd or strange, especially because of being old-fashioned
Example: quaint customs
Example: quaint customs
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Quaint
Ac*quaint"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acquainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acquainting.] [OE. aqueinten, acointen, OF. acointier, LL. adcognitare, fr. L. ad + cognitus, p. p. of cognoscere to know; con- + noscere to know. See Quaint, Know.]1. To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) to know; to make familiar; -- followed by with. Before a man can speak on any subject, it is necessary to be acquainted with it. --Locke. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. --Isa. liii. 3. 2. To communicate notice to; to inform; to make cognizant; -- followed by with (formerly, also, by of), or by that, introducing the intelligence; as, to acquaint a friend with the particulars of an act. Acquaint her here of my son Paris' love. --Shak. I must acquaint you that I have received New dated letters from Northumberland. --Shak. 3. To familiarize; to accustom. [Obs.] --Evelyn. To be acquainted with, to be possessed of personal knowledge of; to be cognizant of; to be more or less familiar with; to be on terms of social intercourse with. Syn: To inform; apprise; communicate; advise.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Quaint
Odd\, a. [Compar. Odder; superl. Oddest.] [OE. odde, fr.Icel. oddi a tongue of land, a triangle, an odd number (from the third or odd angle, or point, of a triangle), orig., a point, tip; akin to Icel. oddr point, point of a weapon, Sw. udda odd, udd point, Dan. od, AS. ord, OHG. ort, G. ort place (cf. E. point, for change of meaning).]1. Not paired with another, or remaining over after a pairing; without a mate; unmatched; single; as, an odd shoe; an odd glove. 2. Not divisible by 2 without a remainder; not capable of being evenly paired, one unit with another; as, 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, etc., are odd numbers. I hope good luck lies in odd numbers. --Shak. 3. Left over after a definite round number has been taken or mentioned; indefinitely, but not greatly, exceeding a specified number; extra. Sixteen hundred and odd years after the earth was made, it was destroyed in a deluge. --T. Burnet. There are yet missing of your company Some few odd lads that you remember not. --Shak. 4. Remaining over; unconnected; detached; fragmentary; hence, occasional; inconsiderable; as, odd jobs; odd minutes; odd trifles. 5. Different from what is usual or common; unusual; singular; peculiar; unique; strange. "An odd action." --Shak. "An odd expression." --Thackeray. The odd man, to perform all things perfectly, is, in my poor opinion, Joannes Sturmius. --Ascham. Patients have sometimes coveted odd things. --Arbuthnot. Locke's Essay would be a very odd book for a man to make himself master of, who would get a reputation by critical writings. --Spectator. Syn: Quaint; unmatched; singular; unusual; extraordinary; strange; queer; eccentric, whimsical; fantastical; droll; comical. See Quaint.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Quaint
Quaint\, a. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to know; con + noscere (for gnoscere) to know. See Know, and cf. Acquaint, Cognition.]1. Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [Obs.] Clerks be full subtle and full quaint. --Chaucer. 2. Characterized by ingenuity or art; finely fashioned; skillfully wrought; elegant; graceful; nice; neat. [Archaic] " The queynte ring." " His queynte spear." --Chaucer. " A shepherd young quaint." --Chapman. Every look was coy and wondrous quaint. --Spenser. To show bow quaint an orator you are. --Shak. 3. Curious and fanciful; affected; odd; whimsical; antique; archaic; singular; unusual; as, quaint architecture; a quaint expression. Some stroke of quaint yet simple pleasantry. --Macaulay. An old, long-faced, long-bodied servant in quaint livery. --W. Irving. Syn: Quaint, Odd, Antique. Usage: Antique is applied to that which has come down from the ancients, or which is made to imitate some ancient work of art. Odd implies disharmony, incongruity, or unevenness. An odd thing or person is an exception to general rules of calculation and procedure, or expectation and common experience. In the current use of quaint, the two ideas of odd and antique are combined, and the word is commonly applied to that which is pleasing by reason of both these qualities. Thus, we speak of the quaint architecture of many old buildings in London; or a quaint expression, uniting at once the antique and the fanciful.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Quaint
Quaint\, a. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to know; con + noscere (for gnoscere) to know. See Know, and cf. Acquaint, Cognition.]1. Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [Obs.] Clerks be full subtle and full quaint. --Chaucer. 2. Characterized by ingenuity or art; finely fashioned; skillfully wrought; elegant; graceful; nice; neat. [Archaic] " The queynte ring." " His queynte spear." --Chaucer. " A shepherd young quaint." --Chapman. Every look was coy and wondrous quaint. --Spenser. To show bow quaint an orator you are. --Shak. 3. Curious and fanciful; affected; odd; whimsical; antique; archaic; singular; unusual; as, quaint architecture; a quaint expression. Some stroke of quaint yet simple pleasantry. --Macaulay. An old, long-faced, long-bodied servant in quaint livery. --W. Irving. Syn: Quaint, Odd, Antique. Usage: Antique is applied to that which has come down from the ancients, or which is made to imitate some ancient work of art. Odd implies disharmony, incongruity, or unevenness. An odd thing or person is an exception to general rules of calculation and procedure, or expectation and common experience. In the current use of quaint, the two ideas of odd and antique are combined, and the word is commonly applied to that which is pleasing by reason of both these qualities. Thus, we speak of the quaint architecture of many old buildings in London; or a quaint expression, uniting at once the antique and the fanciful.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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