Quodlibet (-lĭ*bĕt) noun [ Latin , what you please.]

1. A nice point; a subtilty; a debatable point.

These are your quodlibets , but no learning.

P. Fletcher.

2. (Mus.) A medley improvised by several performers.

Quodlibetarian (- lĭb*e*tā"rĭ* a n) noun One who discusses any subject at pleasure.

Quodlibetical (- lĭ*bĕt"ĭ*k a l) adjective Not restricted to a particular subject; discussed for curiosity or entertainment. -- Quod`li*bet"ic*al*ly , adverb

Quoif (kwoif or koif) noun & transitive verb See Coif . Shak.

Quoiffure (kwoif"fur or koif"-) noun See Coiffure .

Quoil (kwoil or koil) noun See Coil . [ Obsolete]

Quoin (kwoin or koin; 277) noun [ See Coin , and confer Coigne .]
1. (Architecture) Originally, a solid exterior angle, as of a building; now, commonly, one of the selected pieces of material by which the corner is marked.

» In stone, the quoins consist of blocks larger than those used in the rest of the building, and cut to dimension. In brickwork, quoins consist of groups or masses of brick laid together, and in a certain imitation of quoins of stone.

2. A wedgelike piece of stone, wood, metal, or other material, used for various purposes ; as: (a) (Masonry) To support and steady a stone. (b) (Gun.) To support the breech of a cannon. (c) (Print.) To wedge or lock up a form within a chase. (d) (Nautical) To prevent casks from rolling.

Hollow quoin . See under Hollow . - - Quoin post (Canals) , the post of a lock gate which abuts against the wall.

Quoit (kwoit or koit) noun [ Middle English coite ; confer Old French coitier to spur, press, (assumed) Late Latin coctare , from Latin coquere , coctum , to cook, burn, vex, harass, English cook , also W. coeten a quoit.]
1. (a) A flattened ring-shaped piece of iron, to be pitched at a fixed object in play; hence, any heavy flat missile used for the same purpose, as a stone, piece of iron, etc. (b) plural A game played with quoits. Shak.

2. The discus of the ancients. See Discus .

3. A cromlech. [ Prov. Eng.] J. Morley.

Quoit intransitive verb To throw quoits; to play at quoits.

To quoit , to run, and steeds and chariots drive.

Dryden.

Quoit transitive verb To throw; to pitch. [ Obsolete or R.] Shak.

Quoke (kwōk), obsolete imperfect of Quake . Chaucer.

Quoll (kwŏl) noun (Zoology) A marsupial of Australia ( Dasyurus macrurus ), about the size of a cat.

Quondam (kwŏn"dăm) adjective [ Latin , formerly.] Having been formerly; former; sometime. "This is the quondam king." Shak.

Quondam noun A person dismissed or ejected from a position. [ R.] "Make them quondams ; . . . cast them out of their office." Latimer.

Quook (kwok), imperfect of Quake . [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Quop (kwŏp) intransitive verb See Quob .

Quorum (kwō"rŭm) noun [ Latin , of whom, gen. plural of qui who, akin to English who . See the Note below.] Such a number of the officers or members of any body as is competent by law or constitution to transact business; as, a quorum of the House of Representatives; a constitutional quorum was not present.

» The term arose from the Latin words, Quorum aliquem vestrum . . . unum esse volumus (of whom we wish some one of you to be one), which were used in the commission formerly issued to justices of the peace in England, by which commission it was directed that no business of certain kinds should be done without the presence of one or more of certain justices specially designated. Justice of the peace and of the quorum designates a class of justices of the peace in some of the United States.

Quota (kwō"tȧ) noun [ Late Latin , from Latin quota (sc. pars ), from quotus which or what in number, of what number, how many, from quot how many, akin to quis , qui , who: confer Italian quota a share. See Who .] A proportional part or share; the share or proportion assigned to each in a division. " Quota of troops and money." Motley.

Quotable (kwōt"ȧ*b'l) adjective Capable or worthy of being quoted; as, a quotable writer; a quotable sentence.

-- Quot`a*bil"i*ty (-bĭl"ĭ*tȳ) noun Poe.

Quotation (kwo*tā"shŭn) noun [ From Quote .]
1. The act of quoting or citing.

2. That which is quoted or cited; a part of a book or writing named, repeated, or adduced as evidence or illustration. Locke.

3. (Com.) The naming or publishing of the current price of stocks, bonds, or any commodity; also, the price named.

4. Quota; share. [ Obsolete]

5. (Print.) A piece of hollow type metal, lower than type, and measuring two or more pica ems in length and breadth, used in the blank spaces at the beginning and end of chapters, etc.

Quotation marks (Print.) , two inverted commas placed at the beginning, and two apostrophes at the end, of a passage quoted from an author in his own words.

Quotationist (kwo*tā"shŭn*ĭst) noun One who makes, or is given to making, quotations.

The narrow intellectuals of quotationists .

Milton.

Quote (kwōt) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Quoted ; present participle & verbal noun Quoting .] [ Old French quoter , French coter to letter, number, to quote, Late Latin quotare to divide into chapters and verses, from Latin quotus . See Quota .] [ Formerly written also cote .]
1. To cite, as a passage from some author; to name, repeat, or adduce, as a passage from an author or speaker, by way of authority or illustration; as, to quote a passage from Homer.

2. To cite a passage from; to name as the authority for a statement or an opinion; as, to quote Shakespeare.

3. (Com.) To name the current price of.

4. To notice; to observe; to examine. [ Obsolete] Shak.

5. To set down, as in writing. [ Obsolete] "He's quoted for a most perfidious slave." Shak.

Syn. -- To cite; name; adduce; repeat. -- Quote , Cite . To cite was originally to call into court as a witness, etc., and hence denotes bringing forward any thing or person as evidence. Quote usually signifies to reproduce another's words; it is also used to indicate an appeal to some one as an authority, without adducing his exact words.

Quote (kwōt) noun A note upon an author. [ Obsolete] Cotgrave.

Quoter (-ẽr) noun One who quotes the words of another.

Quoth (kwōth or kwŭth) transitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon cweðan , imperfect cwæð , plural cwǣdon ; akin to Old Saxon queðan , Old High German quethan , quedan , Icelandic kveða , Goth. qiþan . √22. Confer Bequeath .] Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object: as, quoth I , quoth he . "Let me not live, quoth he." Shak.

Quotha (-ȧ) interj. [ For quoth 'a said he, 'a being corrupted from he .] Indeed; forsooth.

To affront the blessed hillside drabs and thieves
With mended morals, quotha , -- fine new lives !

Mrs. Browning.

Quotidian (kwo*tĭd"ĭ* a n) adjective [ Middle English cotidian , Latin quotidianus , from quotidie daily; quotus how many + dies day: confer Old French cotidien , French quotidien . See Quota , Deity .] Occurring or returning daily; as, a quotidian fever.

Quotient (kwō"sh e nt) noun [ French, from Latin quoties how often, how many times, from quot how many. See Quota .]

1. (Arith.) The number resulting from the division of one number by another, and showing how often a less number is contained in a greater; thus, the quotient of twelve divided by four is three.

2. (Higher Alg.) The result of any process inverse to multiplication. See the Note under Multiplication .

Quotiety (kwo*tī"e*tȳ) noun [ Latin quotus of what number, quot how many.] (Scholastic Philos.) The relation of an object to number. Krauth-Fleming.

Quotum (kwō"tŭm) noun [ New Latin , from Latin quotus of what number. See Quota .] Part or proportion; quota. [ R.] "A very small quotum ." Max Müller.

Quran (ku*rän") noun See Koran .

R (är). R, the eighteenth letter of the English alphabet, is a vocal consonant. It is sometimes called a semivowel , and a liquid . See Guide to Pronunciation , §§ 178, 179, and 250-254. " R is the dog's letter and hurreth in the sound." B. Jonson.

In words derived from the Greek language the letter h is generally written after r to represent the aspirated sound of the Greek "r , but does not affect the pronunciation of the English word, as rhapsody , rhetoric .

The English letter derives its form from the Greek through the Latin, the Greek letter being derived from the Phœnician, which, it is believed, is ultimately of Egyptian origin. Etymologically, R is most closely related to l , s , and n ; as in bando r e, mando l e; purp l e, Latin purpu r a; E. chapte r , F. chapit r e, Latin capitu l um; E. wa s , we r e; ha r e, G. ha s e; E. orde r , F. ord r e, Latin ordo, ordi n is; E. coffe r , coffi noun

The three Rs , a jocose expression for reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmetic, -- the fundamentals of an education.