▪ I. quire, n.1
(kwaɪə(r))
Forms: α. 3 cwaer, quaer, 4–5 quayer, (5 -ere, qwayer, quaier), 4–6 quayre, (5 qwayre, qvayr), 5–6 qv-, quare, quair, 5–7 quaire, (6 qw-). β. 6 quear(e, quere, 6–7 queere, 6–7 (9 dial.) queer. γ. 6 quier, quyer, 5– quire.
[a. OF. quaer, quaier (later caier, mod. cahier a quire of six sheets, a copy-book, writing-book, etc.) = Prov. cazern, It. quaderno:—pop.L. *quaternum (med.L. quaternus, -um), f. L. quaternī a set of four, f. quattuor four: see quaternion. The loss of the final -n in F. quaer for *quaern is normal; cf. chair, enfer, etc. Icel. kver a quire, little book, is from F. or Eng.
There are three main forms of the word in Eng., quair, quear (quere), quire. The second of these arises from a narrowing of the vowel after the k- sound (cf. quail and queal, quaisy and queasy, kay and key, kayles and keals, kaiser and keasar), and the further change to quier, quire is similar to that of brere, frere to briar, friar.]
1. a. A set of four sheets of parchment or paper doubled so as to form eight leaves, a common unit in mediæval manuscripts; hence, any collection or gathering of leaves, one within the other, in a manuscript or printed book. Also, twenty-four (formerly sometimes twenty-five) sheets of writing-paper.
| α c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1549–50 Of quayers seuen I haue a boke We may ilk a day a quayer loke. 1469 Paston Lett. II. 335, I did write to quairs of papir of witnessis, every quair conteynyng xiiij leves. 1531 Elyot Gov. 172 Muche more he wrote, as it seemed, for diuers quaires lacked in the boke. 1613 Mem. St. Giles's, Durham (Surtees) 42 A quaire of paper for the use of the parishe. |
| β 1530 Palsgr. 164 Mayn, bothe for a hande and for a queare of paper. 1575 Churchyard Chippes (1817) 106 If heere I should all skirmishes expresse..Of paper sure, a quere would not suffice. 1597 Bp. Hall Sat. ii. i. 10 Lo what it is that makes white rags so deare, That men must giue a teston for a queare. 1696 in Pall Mall G. (1889) 8 Jan. 7/2 A Queer of paper..A Coppy Booke. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Queer, a quire of paper. |
| γ 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 128, j reame & vij quires of small paper. 1560 Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 96 A quyer of paper..iiij d. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet B, Hee'le spend all he hath in a quire of paper. 1646 J. Hall Poems 1 How better were it for you to remain (Poore Quires) in ancient raggs. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 120/1 Cassie Quires, are the two outside Quires in a Ream, called also Cording Quires. 1772 Junius Lett. lxviii. 354 He was charged..for feloniously stealing eleven quires of writing paper. 1879 Print. Trades Jrnl. No. 26. 20 The cost of paper from one quire to one ream. |
b. in quires: Unbound, in sheets.
| c 1480 Paston Lett. III. 301 Item, in quayers, Tully de Senectute. Ibid., Item, in qwayers, a Boke de Sapiencia. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer (Grafton) colophon, The Imprinter to sell this Booke in Queres for two shillynges and sixe pence. 1679 Wood Life 10 Feb. (O.H.S.) II. 439, I gave my book..to the Heralds Office in quires. 1733 Swift On Poetry 144 Your poem sunk, And sent in quires to line a trunk. 1885 Bookseller 5 Mar. 313 Advt., The valuable publication stock, in Cloth and Quires. |
| fig. 1682 Grew Anat. Plants Ep. Ded., So that a Plant is, as it were, an Animal in Quires. |
† 2. A small pamphlet or book, consisting of a single quire; a short poem, treatise, etc., which is or might be contained in a quire. Obs.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 248 Þeo ancre þet wernde an oðer a cwaer uorto lenen. Ibid. 282 Ȝif þu hauest knif oðer cloð..scrowe oðer quaer. c 1430 Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. xcvii, Go litel quayre, go unto my lyves queene. c 1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 1 Ther was take to me a quayere. Where yn was drawe in to englesshe..hire martirdom. c 1500 MS. Selden B. 24 lf. 191 Heirefter followis the quair maid be King James of Scotland the first, callit the kingis quair. a 1529 Skelton Sp. Parrot 280 Go litell quayre, namyd the Popagay. c 1535 Fisher Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 429 Who so euer ye be, y{supt} shall fortune to rede this queare. 1570 Foxe A. & M. 1393/2 The bishop of Salis. drewe out a quire of the Concordance, and layd it before the bishop of Harford. |
3. Comb., as quire signature [signature n. 6 a], quire-work; quire-folded adj.; quire stock, books in quires; quire-wise adv., on double leaves, which can be formed into quires to be sewed.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 124/1 When quire work is Printed. 1882 J. Southward Pract. Printing xiii. 117 Folio sheets are sometimes required to be..folded within each other, or quirewise. 1885 Bookseller 5 Mar. Advt., Bookselling Business for Sale..including..bound and quire Stock. 1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 108 Quire folded.., folded in quires—not sent in ‘flat’. Ibid. 109 Quirewise, jobs of single leaves printed on both sides of the paper. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 120 The nethermost deck of the first machine jogged forward its flyboard with sllt [sic] the first batch of quirefolded papers. 1957 N. R. Ker Catal. MSS. containing Anglo-Saxon p. xl (heading) Quire-Signatures and Leaf-Numbers. 1978 Anglo-Saxon England VII. 232 It may have its own series of quire signatures. |
▪ II. quire, n.2
see choir.
▪ III. quire, v.1
(kwaɪə(r))
[f. quire n.1]
trans. To arrange in quires. Hence quired ppl. a.
| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxii. ¶4 If they be Quir'd Sheets, that is, two, three, or four Sheets Quir'd together. Ibid. xxv. ¶4 The Backs of the Quired Books. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 124/1 The number of Sheets Quired one in the other. 1875 Southward Dict. Typogr. 117 Quired. Two sheets so imposed as when folded and made up will lie one within the other. |
▪ IV. quire, v.2
to sing: see choir v.
▪ V. quire
obs. f. quarry n.1, queer a.2; var. quere v. to inquire.