quaint

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: kwānt, IPA^(key): /kweɪnt/, [kʰweɪ̯nt]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪnt

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 cognōscō (“I know”).

Adjective

quaint (comparative quainter, superlative quaintest)

1. (obsolete) Of a person: cunning, crafty. [13th–19th c.]
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     But you, my Lord, were glad to be imploy'd, / To shew how queint an Orator you are.

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.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     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 […] .

   • 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Third. The Hostel, or Inn.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza XX, page 153:

     Lord Gifford, deep beneath the ground, / Heard Alexander's bugle sound, / And tarried not his garb to change, / But, in his wizard habit strange, / Came forth, a quaint and fearful sight; [...]

   • 1924 November 17, Time:

     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.

4. (obsolete) Overly discriminating or needlessly meticulous; fastidious; prim. [15th–19th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     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 […] .

5. Pleasingly unusual; especially, having old-fashioned charm. [from 18th c.]
   • 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], Emma: […], volume (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

• (overly discriminating): See also Thesaurus:fastidious

Derived terms

• quaintly
• quaintness
• quaintsome

Translations

having old-fashioned charm

Chinese: Mandarin: 古色古香的 (gǔsègǔxiāng de) Czech: starodávný (cs) m, pitoreskní, starobylý (cs) m Dutch: pittoresk (nl) Esperanto: pitoreska French: pittoresque (fr), vieillot (fr) Georgian: მიმზიდველი (mimzidveli) German: pittoresk (de) (elevated), malerisch (de) Italian: caratteristico (it), pittoresco (it) Portuguese: encanto (pt) m Russian: старомо́дный (ru) m (staromódnyj) Serbo-Croatian: staromodan (sh), starinski (sh) m Spanish: pintoresco (es) Swedish: pittoresk (sv), gammaldags (sv), sällsam (sv), gammalmodig (sv), ovanlig (sv), sirlig (sv)

interestingly strange

Bulgarian: причудлив (bg) (pričudliv) Czech: kuriózní, pitoreskní, kouzelný (cs) m, bizarní (cs) Danish: ejendommelig, kuriøs Dutch: merkwaardig (nl),typisch (nl) Esperanto: kurioza Finnish: erikoinen (fi), outo (fi) French: remarquable (fr) Georgian: უცნაური (ucnauri), საკვირველი (saḳvirveli) German: kurios (de), wunderlich (de), komisch (de) (coll.) Italian: curioso (it), bizzarro (it) Portuguese: curioso (pt) Serbo-Croatian: čudan (sh) Spanish: curioso (es) Swedish: egendomlig (sv), kuriös (sv), märkvärdig (sv), sällsam (sv)

incongruous, inappropriate or illogical

Bulgarian: ексцентричен (bg) (ekscentričen) Czech: nevhodný (cs) m, nepříhodný m, nesourodý m, divný (cs) m, prapodivný (cs) m, prazvláštní (cs) Danish: løjerlig Dutch: onlogisch (nl), ongepast (nl), onsamenhangend (nl) French: incongru (fr), inconvenant (fr), malséant (fr), dissonant (fr) Italian: inappropriato (it), vano (it) Serbo-Croatian: neprikladan (sh) m Swedish: sirlig (sv), sällsam (sv)

fastidious

Czech: háklivý m, úzkostlivý m Dutch: veeleisend (nl), kieskeurig (nl) French: exigeant (fr), délicat (fr) Spanish: fastidioso (es)

Etymology 2

A variant of quim, possibly as a euphemistic pun.

Noun

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

• quinta

Middle English

Adjective

quaint

1. Alternative form of queynte