quick

quick
\ \ [OE] Originally quick meant ‘alive’ (as in the now fossilized phrase the quick and the dead); it was not until the 13th century that the sense ‘rapid’ began to emerge. It goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *kwikwaz (which also produced Swedish kvickrapid’); and this was descended from an Indo-European base *gwej-, which branched out into Latin vīvusalive’ (source of English vivid), Greek bíoslife’ (source of English biology), Welsh bywalive’, Russian zhivojalive’, etc.
\ \ The couch of couch grass [16] is a variant of the now seldom encountered quitch, whose Old English ancestor cwice may be related to quick (the allusion presumably being to its vigorous growth).
\ \ Cf.BIOLOGY, VIVID

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Quick — (von englisch „schnell“) bezeichnet: Quick (Zeitschrift), ein ehemaliges deutsches Zeitungsmagazin Quick (Geldkarte), die elektronische Geldbörse in Österreich Quick (Programmiersprache), eine an C angelehnte Programmiersprache für Atari Computer …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Quick — Quick, a. [Compar. {Quicker}; superl. {Quickest}.] [As. cwic, cwicu, cwucu, cucu, living; akin to OS. quik, D. kwik, OHG. quec, chec, G. keck bold, lively, Icel. kvikr living, Goth. qius, Lith. q[=y]vas, Russ. zhivoi, L. vivus living, vivere to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Quick — may refer to: * Quick (newspaper), a product of The Dallas Morning News in Texas * QUICK screening, a method to detect endogenous protein protein interactions with very high confidence * Quick clay, a unique form of highly sensitive marine clay * …   Wikipedia

  • quick — [kwik] adj. [ME quik, lively, alive < OE cwicu, living: see BIO ] 1. Archaic living; alive 2. a) rapid; swift [a quick walk] b) done with promptness; prompt [a quick reply] c) …   English World dictionary

  • Quick — Quick, n. 1. That which is quick, or alive; a living animal or plant; especially, the hawthorn, or other plants used in making a living hedge. [1913 Webster] The works . . . are curiously hedged with quick. Evelyn. [1913 Webster] 2. The life; the …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • quick — [ kwik ] n. m. • 1956; nom déposé; mot angl. « rapide » ♦ Matière synthétique dure, poreuse et rougeâtre, utilisée comme revêtement de courts de tennis en plein air. Courts de tennis en quick ou en terre battue. Jouer sur du quick. ⊗ HOM. Couic.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • quick — 1 fleet, swift, rapid, *fast, speedy, expeditious, hasty Analogous words: brisk, nimble, *agile: abrupt, impetuous, *precipitate, headlong 2 Quick, prompt, ready, apt are comparable when they apply to persons, their mental operations, their acts …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • quick — ► ADJECTIVE 1) moving fast. 2) lasting or taking a short time: a quick worker. 3) with little or no delay; prompt. 4) intelligent. 5) (of a person s eye or ear) keenly perceptive. 6) (of temper) easily roused. ► NOUN …   English terms dictionary

  • quick — quick; quick·hatch; quick·ie; quick·ly; quick·ness; quick·en; over·quick·ly; …   English syllables

  • Quick — Quick, adv. In a quick manner; quickly; promptly; rapidly; with haste; speedily; without delay; as, run quick; get back quick. [1913 Webster] If we consider how very quick the actions of the mind are performed. Locke. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • quick — [adj1] fast, speedy abrupt, accelerated, active, agile, alert, a move on*, animated, ASAP*, breakneck*, brief, brisk, cursory, curt, double time*, energetic, expeditious, expeditive, express, fleet, flying, going, harefooted*, hasty, headlong,… …   New thesaurus

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