A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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About this entry:
First published 1990 (DOST Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1513
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Quitter, Quytter, Quhitter, v. [? Of Scand. origin: cf. MSw. qvitra, Sw. kvittra, Dan. kvidre to chirp, twitter. Cf. also mod. Sc. and Eng. dial. whitter, whutter, witter, (1) to chirp, warble, twitter, (2) to flutter, tremble, quiver, the latter of which, and our sense b, is perh. influenced by, or by the source of, Quhidder v.] intr. a. Of a bird: To chirp, twitter. b. To flicker, quiver. —1513 Doug. ii viii 63.
The edder … With forkit tong intyll hir mouth quytterand [v.r. quitterand] 1513 Ib. xii Prol. 241.
The gukgo galys, and so quytteris [Ruddim. quhitteris] the quaill
