Quietus is a word with multiple meanings, including a final stroke that settles something, death, or a release from a debt or duty. Its use as a metaphor for death was popularized by Shakespeare.
Quietus es una palabra con múltiples significados, incluyendo un golpe final que resuelve algo, la muerte, o una liberación de una deuda o deber. Su uso como metáfora de la muerte fue popularizado por Shakespeare.
| Front | quietus \kwye-EE-tus\ |
|---|---|
| Back | noun 1. A final stroke that settles something. 2. Discharge from life; death. 3. A release from a duty or debt. [In the early 1500s, English speakers adopted the Medieval Latin phrase "quietus est" (literally "he is quit") as the name for the writ of discharge exempting a baron or knight from payment of a knight's fee to the king. The expression was later shortened to "quietus" and applied to the termination of any debt. William Shakespeare was the first to use "quietus" as a metaphor for the termination of life: "For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, ... When he himself might his quietus make / With a bare bodkin?" (Hamlet). The third meaning, which is more influenced by "quiet" than "quit," appeared in the 19th century. It often occurs in the phrase "put the quietus on" (as in, "The bad news put the quietus on their celebration").] "The irony is, of course, that the Curse will provide its own quietus and lead me to the peace I have so desperately sought." Michael Bywater, Not With a Whimper But With a Bang, Independent on Sunday (London, UK), May 19, 1996. |
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