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quitrent

[kwit-rent]
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noun

rent paid by a freeholder or copyholder in lieu of services that might otherwise have been required.

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Origin of quitrent

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at quit1, rent1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for quit-rent

Historical Examples of quit-rent

  • And you can settle with Akm afterward; you can reduce his quit-rent, I suppose.

  • He held it on freehold title, with no reservation of quit-rent to the Government.

  • The quit-rent was handed down from the feudal system of medieval times.

    The Stronghold

    Miriam Haynie

  • Here--there is a dollar for you; the quit-rent is paid for this year, at least.

    Wyandotte

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • A hundred acres were promised for forty shillings, with a quit-rent of one shilling annually to the proprietor forever.

    William Penn

    George Hodges

British Dictionary definitions for quit-rent

quitrent

noun

(formerly) a rent payable by a freeholder or copyholder to his lord that released him from liability to perform services
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for quit-rent
n.

early 15c., "rent paid by a tenant in exchange for being discharged from required service;" also, "nominal rent as acknowledgment of tenure," from quit (adj.) + rent (n.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper