▪ I. † quethe, n. Obs. rare.
Also 6 Sc. queith.
[f. the vb.]
Speech, address; sound, cry.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1150 At þe fyrst quethe of þe quest quaked þe wylde. 1513 Douglas æneis v. ii. 102 Quairfor Enee begouth again renew His faderis hie saull queith. |
▪ II. † quethe, v. Obs. (exc. in pa. tense quoth).
Forms: inf. 1 cweðan, (cwæðan, cwiðan, cuoeða, etc.), 2 cweþen, 2–3 queðen, 5 queth(yn, (qv-, qw-). pres. tense (1 sing.) 1 cweðe, (cweoðu, cueðo, etc.), 4 queþe, 4–5 queth(e, 5 qwethe, 6 queythe. pa. tense 1 cwæð, etc., 1–2 cwed, 1–3 cweð, 2 cwet, quað, 3 cwaþþ, qu(u)ad, queð, 4 quaþe, quath, (queþed, 5 ? qwithit): see also quoth. pa. pple. 1 cweden, 2 i-cweðe(n, 2–3 i-queðen, 3 i-cwede, i-queðe, queðen, 6 queythed.
[OE. cweðan (cwæð, cwǽdon, cweden) = OFris. quetha, queda, quan, OS. queđan (quađ, quath, quad; quâđun, quâdun), OHG. quedan, chweden (quad, quat; quâdun, quâtun: MHG. queden, keden), ON. kveða (kvað, kváðum, kveðinn: Da. kvæde, Sw. qväda to sing), Goth. qiþan (qaþ, qêþum, qiþan):—OTeut. *kweþan, kwaþ, kwæ̂đum, kweđono-.]
1. trans. To speak, say, tell, declare, call.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter ii. 7 Dryhten cwæð to me, ‘sunu min ðu earð’. Ibid. xli. 4 Ðonne bið cweden to me..‘hwer is god ðin’. 971 Blickl. Hom. 183 Þa cwæþ Neron to Petre, ‘ᵹehyrstu, Petrus, hwæt Simon cwiþ’? c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 37 Do summe of þisse þinge þe ic wulle nu cweþen. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1496 Sel me ðo wunes, ðe queðen ben ðe firme sunes. a 1300 Cursor M. 22973 Mani man..Wat noght þis word i for-wit quath. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1224 Sertes, þys were our most profit, Wiþ loue & leue he queþe [v.r. quede] vs quyt. a 1400–50 Alexander 4325, I sall quethe þe forqui & quat is þ e cause. |
b. intr. in phr. quick and quething: Alive and able to speak.
| 1529 More Dyaloge i. Wks. 131/2 A man and a woman whyche are yet quicke and quething. 1546 Gardiner Declar. Joye 39 b, I meruayle where he had lerned that lesson being yet quicke and quethynge. |
2. To promise. rare.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 64 God hem quuad ðor seli suriurn. Ibid. 2788 Nu am ic ligt to fren hem ðeðen And milche and hunige lond hem queðen. |
3. To assign by will, to bequeath.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 6294 Hous, and rente, and ouþer þyng, Mow þey queþe at here endyng. c 1330 ― Chron. (1810) 135 To temples in Acres he quath fiue þousand marke. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 321, I queþe me to þe trone of þat Iuge þat neuere haþ ende. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 4794 My body, I quethe also To the sepulkre, for dayes thre. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 16 Item I geue and quethe to William Hussher iijs. iiijd. 1530 Palsgr. 676/2 Hath he queythed you any thyng in his testament? |
b. ? To bestow, deliver. rare—1.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 6973 To Qwintilion the quem he qwithit a dynt, Woundit hym wickidly. |
Hence † ˈquething vbl. n., bequeathing; quething word, last farewell. Also † ˈquethe-word, a legacy, bequest.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 373 By beggynge, by queethyng [v.r. queþinge]..and oþer fals meenes [they] cryen evere after worldly godis. 1481 in T. Gardner Hist. Dunwich (1754) 148 Of Cutberd Eyer, for the Queth Word of Tym Chawmbyr 40s. c 1490 Promp. Parv. 420/2 (MS. K) Qvethe worde..legatum. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. viii. 62 Thi last regrait and quething wordis to say. 1532 Churchw. Acc. Wigtoft, Lincs. in Nichols Illustr. Anc. Mann. (1797), Item, receyvyd of Margaret Brygg for y⊇ quethword of Rob{supt} Brygg hir husband 1/-. |
▪ III. quethe
var. quede, bad.