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Forfeit vs Quit - What's the difference?

forfeit | quit |

As nouns the difference between forfeit and quit

is that forfeit is a penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor while quit is any of numerous species of small passerine birds native to tropical America.

As verbs the difference between forfeit and quit

is that forfeit is to suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance while quit is to pay (a debt, fine etc.).

As an adjective forfeit

is lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure.

forfeit

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A penalty for or consequence of a misdemeanor.
  • That he our deadly forfeit should release'' (John Milton, ''On the Morning of Christ's Nativity , 1629)
  • A thing forfeited; that which is taken from somebody in requital of a misdeed committed; that which is lost, or the right to which is alienated, by a crime, breach of contract, etc.
  • He who murders pays the forfeit of his own life.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Thy slanders I forgive; and therewithal / Remit thy other forfeits .
  • Something deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine as part of a game.
  • * Goldsmith
  • Country dances and forfeits shortened the rest of the day.
  • (obsolete, rare) Injury; wrong; mischief.
  • * Ld. Berners
  • to seek arms upon people and country that never did us any forfeit

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To suffer the loss of something by wrongdoing or non-compliance
  • He forfeited his last chance of an early release from jail by repeatedly attacking another inmate.
  • To lose a contest, game, match, or other form of competition by voluntary withdrawal, by failing to attend or participate, or by violation of the rules
  • Because only nine players were present, the football team was forced to forfeit the game.
  • To be guilty of a misdeed; to be criminal; to transgress.
  • To fail to keep an obligation.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I will have the heart of him if he forfeit .

    Usage notes

    * Very rarely, forfeit is used as the past tense form and past participle (i.e., the past tense forms and the present tense form are homographs).

    Synonyms

    * (lose a contest) capitulate, surrender * (voluntarily give up) forgo, withgo

    Derived terms

    * forfeits * nonforfeited * nonforfeiting * nonforfeiture

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Lost or alienated for an offense or crime; liable to penal seizure.
  • * Shakespeare
  • thy wealth being forfeit to the state
  • * Emerson
  • to tread the forfeit paradise
    English irregular verbs English verbs with base form identical to past participle English words not following the I before E except after C rule

    quit

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) quiter, (etyl) quiter, from , ultimately from (etyl) quietus .

    Verb

  • To pay (a debt, fine etc.).
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Enkindle all the sparks of nature / To quit this horrid act.
  • *(Edward Fairfax) (c.1580-1635)
  • *:that judge that quits each soul his hire
  • To repay (someone) for (something).
  • *:
  • *:I was but late att a Iustynge / and there I Iusted with a knyghte that is broder vnto kynge Pellam / and twyes smote I hym doune / & thenne he promysed to quyte me on my best frynde / and so he wounded my sone that can not be hole tyll I haue of that knyghtes blood
  • (obsolete) To repay, pay back (a good deed, injury etc.).
  • *1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , III.v:
  • *:Vnthankfull wretch (said he) is this the meed, / With which her soueraigne mercy thou doest quight ?
  • To conduct or acquit (oneself); to behave (in a specified way).
  • *
  • *:Be strong and quit' yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: ' quit yourselves like men, and fight.
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:Samson hath quit himself like Samson.
  • To carry through; to go through to the end.
  • *(Samuel Daniel) (1562-1619)
  • *:Never worthy prince a day did quit / With greater hazard and with more renown.
  • (label) To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or oppressive; to relieve; to clear; to liberate.
  • *(William Wake) (1657-1737)
  • *:To quit you of this fear, you have already looked Death in the face; what have you found so terrible in it?
  • (label) To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, etc.; to absolve; to acquit.
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:God will relent, and quit thee all his debt.
  • (label) To abandon, renounce (a thing).
  • (label) To leave (a place).
  • To resign from (a job, office, position, etc.).
  • :
  • To stop, give up (an activity) (usually + gerund or verbal noun).
  • :
  • To close (an application).
  • (quit)
  • Derived terms
    * quitter
    Usage notes
    * The past tense of quit'' is now ''quit'' for most speakers and writers; dictionaries usually allow ''quitted'' as an alternative, but it is rare or nonexistent in North America and Australia, and outnumbered by ''quit'' by about 16 to 1 in the British National Corpus. Quitted is more commonly used to mean "left". ''ie. She quitted her job.
    References
    Pam Peters, The Cambridge Guide to English Usage , Cambridge University Press, p. 453.

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any of numerous species of small passerine birds native to tropical America.
  • Derived terms
    * bananaquit