quoth
[kwohth]
- said (used with nouns, and with first- and third-person pronouns, and always placed before the subject): Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”
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Also quo.
Origin of quoth
1150–1200; preterit of quethe (otherwise obsolete), Middle English quethen, Old English cwethan to say. Cf. bequeath
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for quoth
Historical Examples
"The more reason that I should strive to mend him," quoth Alleyne.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
"These are the Beating Friars, otherwise called the Flagellants," quoth he.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
"I doubt it not, mon ami," quoth the archer, going back to his tankard.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
"Streams may spring from one source, and yet some be clear and some be foul," quoth she quickly.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
"There is the smoke from Bazas, on the further side of Garonne," quoth he.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
quoth
- archaic (used with all pronouns except thou and you, and with nouns) another word for said 1 (def. 2)
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Word Origin
Old English cwæth, third person singular of cwethan to say; related to Old Frisian quetha to say, Old Saxon, Old High German quethan; see bequeath
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for quoth
v.
Old English cwæð, third person singular past tense of cweðan "to say, speak; name, call; declare, proclaim" (Middle English quethan), from Proto-Germanic *kwithan (cf. Old Saxon quethan, Old Norse kveða, Old Frisian quetha, Old High German quedan, Gothic qiþan), from PIE root *gwet- "to say, speak" (see bequeath). Cf. also archaic quotha "said he" (1510s) for Old English cwæðe ge "think you?"
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper