quotha, int. Now arch.
(ˈkwəʊθə)
Also 6 catha, quod a, quodha.
[For quoth he (see a pron.).]
The phrase ‘said he?’, used with contemptuous or sarcastic force in repeating a word or phrase used by another; hence = indeed! forsooth!
| 1519 Interl. Four Elem. (Percy Soc.) 24 Thre course dysshes, quod a. 1528 Rede me, etc. (Arb.) 86 Wat. Hath Christ amonge theym no place? Jef. Christ catha? c 1550 Lusty Juventus C ii b, Lawfull, quodha, a, foole, foole. 1600 Heywood 1st Pt. Edw. IV Wks. 1874 I. 33 Forbid, quotha? I, in good sadness. 1680 Dryden Span. Friar iii. ii, A novice quotha! you would make a novice of me too, if you could. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. i. i, Learning, quotha! a mere composition of tricks and mischief. 1835 Willis Pencillings II. xliii. 38 The ‘fickle moon,’ quotha! I wish my friends were half as constant. 1884 Browning Ferishtah, Mihrab Shah 99 Attributes, quotha? Here's poor flesh and blood. 1917 W. Owen Let. 4 Feb. (1967) 432 Distaste? Distaste, Quotha? 1958 L. Durrell Mountolive v. 111 A fellow-romantic quotha! |