quoth

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English quoth, quath, from Old English cwæþ (first and third person past indicative of cweþan (“to say, speak to, address, exhort, admonish”)), from Proto-Germanic *kwaþ (first and third person past indicative of Proto-Germanic *kweþaną (“to say”)). Unrelated to quote. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kwəʊθ/ (General American) IPA(key): /kwoʊθ/ Rhymes: -əʊθ === Verb === quoth (archaic or literary, now defective) said ==== Derived terms ==== quotha === Verb === quoth (third-person singular simple present quoths, present participle quothing, simple past and past participle quothed) (defective, modal, auxiliary, nonstandard, archaic) To say. ==== Usage notes ==== Quoth is considered a defective verb because all of its other forms are obsolete. It was originally a past-tense form like "said." Some later use, which treats quoth as a base form and inflects it (quoths, quothed, etc), is nonstandard. Quoth almost always comes before the subject, usually in the form "quoth he/she." It also often comes after the object, which is whatever is being said by the subject, written between quotation marks. It can also be inserted in the middle of an object phrase, where "quoth [subject]" is separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. ==== See also ==== quote say == Middle English == === Verb === quoth alternative form of quath (“spoke”, etc.)