quid

/kwɪd/

quid noun: the inherent nature of something.

Noun (1)

quid (plural quids)

The inherent nature of something.
(US, historical) A member of a section of the Democratic-Republican Party between 1805 and 1811, following John Randolph of Roanoke. (From tertium quid.)

Synonyms:

Quiddist
Paired with quo, in reference to the phrase quid pro quo (“this for that”): something offered in exchange for something else.
- […]; 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.]...
- 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...2000, Andrew Stark, Conflict of Interest in American Public Life, →ISBN, pages 163–164

Noun (2)

quid (plural quid or (rare) quids)

(UK, colloquial) Pound (currency). (usually used with a whole number of pounds)
- Seven quid for a toastie? Are you taking the mick?!
(historical) A sovereign or guinea, that is, a certain coin or amount of money.
- They invited him to come to-morrow, […] and bring half a quid with him.1870, Charles Reade, Put Yourself in His Place
- Isn't this the chance of a lifetime? Have either of you ever made a couple of quids at once in your puff before—pinching goods from the back of delivery vans and smooching lead off empty houses?1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London
Synonyms:

pound, nicker, sov
(Commonwealth, Ireland, colloquial, historical) Various national currencies typically known by the name "pound".
(Ireland, broadly, colloquial) Euro.
(Commonwealth, broadly, colloquial, rare) Dollar, dollars.

Noun (3)

quid (plural quids)

A piece of material for chewing, especially chewing tobacco.
- Then he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out a stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Israel Hands”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part V (My Sea Adventure), page 210
- He broke off to open a small brass tobacco-box and place a little quid of tobacco tenderly into a pouch in his left cheek, […]1901, W. W. Jacobs, chapter 1, in Light Freights, page 1
(US, colloquial) The act of chewing such tobacco.

Verb

quid (third-person singular simple present quids, present participle quidding, simple past and past participle quidded)

To chew tobacco.
- Ah! the pig-tailed, quidding pirates and the pretty pranks we played1902, John Masefield, A Ballad of John Silver
To let food drop from the mouth whilst chewing.

Noun (4) capitalized: QUID

QUID (plural QUIDs)

(abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of quantitative ingredients declaration.
- The QUID tells a customer the percentage of particular ingredients contained in a food product.

quid meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

quid in Hindi

क्विद, क्विड

quid in Urdu

کوئڈ

quid in Bengali

কুইড

quid in Telugu

క్విడ్

More languagesFewer languages

quid in Malayalam: ക്വിഡ്
quid in Kannada: ಕ್ವಿಡ್
quid in Punjabi: ਕੁਇਡ
quid in Gujarati: ક્વિડ, ક્વિદ
quid in Odia: କ୍ୱିଡ୍, କୁଇଡ୍, କ୍ୱିଡ୍ କରନ୍ତୁ
quid in Nepali: क्विद, क्विड

Examples of quid in a sentence

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).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...
The ride costs exactly fifteen quid, but that doesn't include the tip, and bitter is two pounds a pint.1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, pages 71–72:

All 40 example sentences with quid

Synonyms of quid

Forms of quid

Noun
plural	quids
plural	quid
plural	QUIDs
plural (rare)	quids
Verb
third-person singular present	quids
present participle	quidding
past participle	quidded
past	quidded

Plural of quid: quid

Origin of quid

Borrowed from Latin quid (“what, something”), neuter singular of quis (“who”).

Likely derives from the phrase quid pro quo (“this for that”), referring to the exchange of goods/services for money.

From Middle English quide, quede, from Old English cwidu, cwudu (“that which is chewed, cud”). Doublet of cud.

Words formed from quid

Phrases with quid

Words that rhyme with quid

27 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about quid

What does quid mean?: Quid means the inherent nature of something.
What is quid in Hindi?: Quid in Hindi is क्विद, क्विड. See Quid meaning in Hindi.
How do you use quid in a sentence?: 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).
What part of speech is quid?: Quid can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce quid?: Quid is pronounced /kwɪd/.
What is the plural of quid?: The plural of quid is quids.

Words near quid in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-quid.ogg.

Cite this entry: “quid.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/quid. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.