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quid

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quid¹

  • /kwɪd/
  • [kʰw̥ɪd̥]

Rhymes with -ɪd

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Latin quid (“what, something”), neuter singular of quis (“who”).

noun quids

  1. The inherent nature of something.
  2. US, historical A member of a section of the Democratic-Republican Party between 1805 and 1811, following John Randolph of Roanoke. (From tertium quid.)

    Similar: Quiddist

  3. Paired with quo, in reference to the phrase quid pro quo (“this for that”): something offered in exchange for something else. […]; but what is the quo for which they ought to give the quid? you say they ought to give a quid pro quo; what is the quo? […]; did not they give you a pretty handsome quid for the quo there?

quid²

  • /kwɪd/
  • [kʰw̥ɪd̥]

Rhymes with -ɪd

Where it comes from

Likely derives from the phrase quid pro quo (“this for that”), referring to the exchange of goods/services for money.

noun quid · quids

  1. UK, colloquial Pound (currency). (usually used with a whole number of pounds) Seven quid for a toastie? Are you taking the mick?!
  2. historical A sovereign or guinea, that is, a certain coin or amount of money. They invited him to come to-morrow, […] and bring half a quid with him.

    Similar: pound, nicker, sov

  3. Commonwealth, Ireland, colloquial, historical Various national currencies typically known by the name "pound".
  4. Ireland, broadly, colloquial Euro.
  5. Commonwealth, broadly, colloquial, rare Dollar, dollars.

quid³

  • /kwɪd/
  • [kʰw̥ɪd̥]

Rhymes with -ɪd

Where it comes from

From Middle English quide, quede, from Old English cwidu, cwudu (“that which is chewed, cud”). Doublet of cud.

noun quids

  1. A piece of material for chewing, especially chewing tobacco. Then he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out a stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid.
  2. US, colloquial The act of chewing such tobacco.

verb quids · quidding · quidded

  1. To chew tobacco. Ah! the pig-tailed, quidding pirates and the pretty pranks we played
  2. of a horse To let food drop from the mouth whilst chewing.

QUID⁴

noun QUIDs

  1. abbreviation, acronym Acronym of quantitative ingredients declaration The QUID tells a customer the percentage of particular ingredients contained in a food product.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: wad, plug, pound, pound sterling, cud, chew, chaw, british pound, essence, crux, fact, real, balance, quo, books, book

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MLA

"quid." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/quid. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

quid. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/quid

Chicago

"quid." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/quid.

BibTeX
@misc{quid_2026,
  title = {quid},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/quid},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}