requite
/ɹəˈkwaɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.73 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To repay (a debt owed); specifically, to recompense or reward someone for (a favour, a service rendered, etc.)
Transitive verb
verb
To repay (someone) a debt owed; specifically, to recompense or reward (someone) for a favour, a service rendered, etc.
Transitive verb
verb
To respond to or reciprocate (feelings, especially affection or love which has been shown).
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "But remember / (For that's my buſineſſe to you) that you three / From Millaine did ſupplant good Proſpero, / Expos'd vnto the Sea (vvhich hath requit it) / Him, and his innocent childe: for vvhich foule deed, / The Povvres, delaying (not forgetting) haue / Incens'd the Seas, and Shores; yea, all the Creatures / Againſt your peace: […]"
- "He that requiteth a good turne, muſt imploy ſomevvhat of his ovvne, as he doth vvho repayeth the monie he ovveth: but he layeth out nothing vvho ſatisfieth himſelfe, no more then he giueth, vvho giueth to himſelfe. […] He therefore that requiteth a good turne pleaſureth him againe, from vvhom hee hath receiued any thing."
- "[T]hey requited Chriſts paſſion, and died for him vvho ſuffered for them."
- "Children are disobedient, and they sting / Their father's hearts to madness and despair / Requiting years of care with contumely."
- "Good cryptographists are rare indeed; and thus their services, although seldom required, are necessarily well requited."
- ""It was the act of an Englishman—a fellow Englishman," said the little man simply. "I hope that one day I shall have the opportunity of requiting it … I probably shall," he added rather sadly. "It is one of the pleasant if quite onerous duties of a man of my position to requite the services he receives—usually on a disproportionately extravagant scale.""
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English requiten (“to repay”), and then partly from both of the following: * From re- (prefix meaning ‘again; back, backward’) + quiten (“to pay, pay for; to repay; to acquit (someone of a charge), exonerate; to prove (oneself) innocent; to answer, reply; to atone for (a sin); to compensate, make amends; to depart, leave; to equal, match; to fulfil (an obligation); to give back, return; to give up, relinquish; to release, set free; to render (a service); to reward; to give retribution, take revenge”) (from Old French quitter (“to free, liberate”) (modern French quitter), from quitte (“free, liberated”) + -er (suffix forming verbs)). Quitte is derived from Latin quiētus (“at rest; quiet”), the perfect passive participle of quiēscō (“to repose, rest; to sleep; to be quiet or still”), from quiēs (“rest, repose; sleep; calm, peace, quiet”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest; peace, rest”)) + -scō (suffix forming verbs with the sense ‘to begin to do [something]’). * From Old French requiter, requitter (“to free or liberate again”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + quitter (see above). The noun is derived from the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɹəˈkwaɪt/
- British English: /ɹɪˈkwaɪt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
requites (present, singular)
requiting (participle, present)
requited (participle, past)
requited (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
requited (first person, past)
requitest (archaic, present)
requited (past, second person)
requitedst (archaic, past)
requiteth (archaic, present)
requited (past, singular)