Quid Meaning
/kwɪd/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe inherent nature of something.
nounA member of a section of the Democratic-Republican Party between 1805 and 1811, following John Randolph of Roanoke. (From tertium quid.)
Sentence Examples
This squid is five quid.
Didn't she only have five quid?
These shoes cost me two quid from a charity shop.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He paid twenty ____ for the concert ticket at the venue.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He slipped the taxi driver a twenty ____ note and told him to keep the change.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin quid (“what, something”), neuter singular of quis (“who”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…]; but what is the quo for which they ought to give the quid? you say they ought to give a quid pro quo; what is the quo? […]; did not they give you a pretty handsome quid for the quo there?"
— 1886 May 19, Report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Electric Lighting Act (1882) Amendment (No. 1) Bill [H.L.]; the Electric Lighting Act (1882) Amendment (No. 2) Bill [H.L.]; Together with the Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, and Appendix, London: […] Henry Hansard and Son, page 208:
"Indeed, asymmetry precludes the possibility of pointing to any particular quo that is meant to recompense the quid. […]If there exists any kind of inequity between quid and quo, then—on this line of argument—the expansive category of “friendship” emerges to account for it, siphoning the situation away from the class of objectionable quid pro quo. The claim officials here make—that for a quid to have a quo there must be some equivalency between the two—draws theoretical sustenance from the objective, exclusionary approach that critics of classical contract law apply to disproportionate exchanges."
— 2000, Andrew Stark, Conflict of Interest in American Public Life, →ISBN, pages 163–164:
"Corruption, the Court declared in Buckley v. Valeo, involves a quid pro quo: an officeholder doing something in office in return for money or some other favor provided by another individual or entity (for our purposes, a corporation). The problem, however, is that in principle there can be a quid—the money or favor offered by the business to the official—and a quo—the action taken by the official that benefits the business—without any clear evidence of a pro, that is, that the two are connected.[…]The “pro,” the connection between quid and quo, might take place only inside the minds of the official and businessperson concerned."
— 2009, George G. Brenkert, Tom L. Beaucham, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Business Ethics, Oxford University Press, page 504:
"It is hard to pull off a quid pro quo if the holder of the quo doesn’t know about the quid."
— 2020, John Yoo, Defender in Chief: Donald Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power, New York, N.Y.: All Points Books, St. Martin’s Publishing Group, →ISBN:
"They invited him to come to-morrow, […] and bring half a quid with him."
— 1870, Charles Reade, Put Yourself in His Place:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He paid twenty ____ for the concert ticket at the venue.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He slipped the taxi driver a twenty ____ note and told him to keep the change.