Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

QUATE, Quet, adj., adv., n., v. Also quait (Sc. 1718 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 68; Kcb. 1901 R. D. Trotter Gall. Gossip 122), quaite (Lnk. 1919 G. Rae Clyde and Tweed 76), quaete (s.Sc. 1857 H. S. Riddell Psalms iv. 4), quayet (Dmf. 1873 A. C. Gibson Folk-Speech Cmb. 116), queyet, -it, quaet (Abd. 1929 J. Alexander Mains and Hilly 111), quaiet (Abd. 1879 G. MacDonald Sir Gibbie xxix.), quaiat (Mry. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 22); qui't (Fif. 1901 G. Setoun Skipper Barncraig 67; quite (e.Lth. 1905 J. Lumsden Croonings 229). See also Whiet. Sc. forms and usages of Eng. quiet.  Also Compar. quaiter, Superl. quatest. Ppl.adj. quaitit, quietened, made peaceful (Sc. 1896 Stevenson W. Hermiston vi.). Hence quately, quae(i)t-, quait(e)-, whiet- (Sh. 1931 Sh. Almanac 194); quaitlins, quietly (Abd. 1922 Banffshire Jnl. (28 Nov.)), see -Lins; quaitlike; quateness, quaet-, quaite-; qua(i)ten, qua(i)eten, kwaten (Abd. 1928 Abd. Wkly. Jnl. (1 Nov.) 6), to quieten. [m. and n.Sc. kwe(ə)t]

I. adj. 1. As in Eng., without noise, silent. wm.Sc. 1986 Robert McLellan in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 22:
I said sae to keep my mither quait. Help me back to the fire, Janet. I'm cauld, lyin oot on the brae.ne.Sc. 1991 Ken Morrice in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 60:
Quait and wyce we sat aa aifterneen,
bein jist bit loons
and daith cam ower seen.Sc. 1991 John McDonald in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 90:
The starsheen dreels doun the nicht
on the clinty heichs o yer daithly darg;
dreels doun on this quaiter Calvary:Lnk. 1991 Duncan Glen Selected Poems 54:
The cheyngin flow o the burn, the quait breeze,Arg. 1993:
We thought it wid be quet at the weekend, but it wiz surprisingly busy. We had sixty meals yesterday.Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 44:
The hinmaist pet wis the quatest. Tibbit the tortoise in Room 10.m.Sc. 1998 Jean Massie in Neil R. MacCallum Lallans 51 22:
But in a quate meinit
ye coud sense them
courrie'in intae aa thae wee
crannies - gairdin us,
an their hame.m.Sc. 1998 Lillias Forbes Turning a Fresh Eye 18:
Aiblins ye'll try a canny keek oot the pane
Dichtin the gless wi yer thoum
A'thing unco quaet - deil's wark doon the wynd ... w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 53:
Where yince there wis bedlam, noo's quate, wi guid cause.
Ay, soor plooms fae Woolworth's can sowther yir jaws.m.Sc. 2000 Bruce Leeming in Alec Finlay Atoms of Delight 53:
Graybacks
lowpin slee:
hou quait the sprots

Phrs. (1) quate wi' ye!, etc., (i) be quiet, “pipe down”. Gen.Sc.; (ii) as an expression of emphatic agreement: “how right you are!” “I couldn't agree more” (Cai., Per. 1967); (2) to keep a quaeit sooch, to hold one's peace, keep mum. See Souch.(1) Mry. 1897 J. Mackinnon Braefoot Sk. 60:
“Quate wi' ye,” screamed Betty, hurriedly retreating after the cog.Abd. 1932 D. Campbell Bamboozled 8:
Quait wi' yer squabblin'!

2. Secret, private. Hence quately (-wise), privately, secretly, confidentially, “on the quiet”. Phr. to keep (a thing) quate, to conceal, “keep dark”. Now colloq. Eng. but orig. Sc.Ayr. 1833 J. Kennedy G. Chalmers 749:
For ye ken yoursel, quatelywise, ye're no very chancy.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xxxviii.:
Patie . . . made oot to keep it a' quate.Lnk. 1873 A. G. Murdoch Lilts 44:
Let oor rents be three days auld, Ye'll quately tak' the law an' sned it.Sh. 1900 Shetland News (17 Nov.):
Willie . . . an' Bawby wis at a whiet cooncil.Dmf. 1912 J. L. Waugh Robbie Doo 139:
In a toon like Thornhill, where ilka yin's business is a'body's business, it's nae very easy maitter to keep ocht quate.Cai. 1928 John o' Groat Jnl. (17 Feb.):
Quately, 'tween ye an' me.

3. Of weather: windless, still, calm (w.Sc. 1880 Jam.). Gen.Sc.Uls. 1901 Northern Whig:
A still summer day without any wind is termed “quate”. A “quate soft rain” is unaccompanied with wind.Abd. 1917 E. S. Rae Private J. McPherson 117:
At dawn ae quate spring mornin'.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick vii.:
It wis a bonnie quaeit nicht. . . . There wis niver a sooch o' ony kin-kine fae the sea airt.

II. adv. In a quiet manner, without noise or disturbance: stealthily. Hence quaitlike. Gen.Sc.Abd. 1893 G. MacDonald Songs and Ball. 89:
As quaiet's a cat He grips ye, and a'things ower.Abd. 1920 G. P. Dunbar Peat-Reek 19:
An' syne the youngest, bonnie Jean, jist slippit quait awa.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick xxiv.:
A steed up quaeit an' canny like an' teetit in at'e main inside door. ne.Sc. 1994 Alison Mann in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 192:
Jeems, ma man, deid on a braw simmer's day.
On a bricht mornin in June month, we steid bi the burn lookin ower the berry fields that were his pride. He turned tae me, pit oot his haun, staiggered a wee, an wis awa. Quaitlike, juist the wey he'd lived, niver a fash tae onybody.

III. n. Sc. form of Eng. quiet.Sc. 1991 T. S. Law in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 35:
Thare was a doverie, dull quaet,
a stoond o silence at the grate,Lnk. 1991 Duncan Glen Selected Poems 62:
The clypie voices jabberin,
jabberin, jabberin agin themsels,
stilled to quait
- at least for an intak o braith.Abd. 1995 Sheena Blackhall Lament for the Raj 3:
Aathin's vanished noo, inno the hairt o the quate,
Barrin the chingaling o bell an chime.

In phr. at quiet, at peace, in a state of harmony. Obs. in Eng.Sc. 1830 Scott Demonology viii.:
The country remained at quiet.Sc. 1886 Stevenson Dr. Jekyll 54:
Mr. Utterson began . . . to grow more at quiet with himself.