quaint

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English

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Pronunciation

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  • (UK, US) enPR: kwānt, IPA(key): /kweɪnt/, [kʰweɪ̯nt]
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪnt

Etymology 1

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From Middle English queynte, quoynte, from Anglo-Norman cointe, queinte and Old French cointe (pretty, clever, knowing), from Latin cognitus, past participle of cognōscō (I know).

Adjective

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quaint (comparative quainter, superlative quaintest)

  1. (obsolete) Of a person: cunning, crafty. [13th–19th c.]
  2. (obsolete) Cleverly made; artfully contrived. [14th–19th c.]
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. [], London: [] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker []; [a]nd by Robert Boulter []; [a]nd Matthias Walker, [], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: [], London: Basil Montagu Pickering [], 1873, →OCLC:
      describe races and games, / Or tilting furniture, imblazon'd shields, / Impresses quaint, caparisons and steeds, / Bases and tinsel trappings [] .
  3. (now dialectal) Strange or odd; unusual. [from 14th c.]
  4. (obsolete) Overly discriminating or needlessly meticulous; fastidious; prim. [15th–19th c.]
  5. Pleasingly unusual; especially, having old-fashioned charm. [from 18th c.]
    • 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], Emma: [], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: [] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:
      I admire all that quaint, old-fashioned politeness; it is much more to my taste than modern ease; modern ease often disgusts me.
    • 1957, Claire Rothrock, Milton Yakus, Allan Jeffrey (lyrics and music), “Old Cape Cod”, performed by Patti Page:
      If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air, / Quaint little villages here and there, / You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod.
    • 2011 January 31, Ian Sample, The Guardian:
      The rock is a haven for rare wildlife, a landscape where pretty hedgerows and quaint villages are bordered by a breathtaking, craggy coastline.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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A variant of quim, possibly as a euphemistic pun.

Noun

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quaint (plural quaints)

  1. (archaic) The vulva. [from 14th c.]
    • 2003, Peter Ackroyd, The Clerkenwell Tales, page 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.’

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Adjective

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quaint

  1. Alternative form of queynte