the seventeenth letter of the modern and the sixteenth of the ancient Roman alphabet, was in the latter an adoption of the [char.] (κόππα, koppa) of some of the early Greek alphabets. The Phœnician letter from which this was derived had the forms [char.], [char.], [char.], and was used as the sign for the deeper or more guttural of the two k-sounds which exist in the Semitic tongues (Hebrew [char.], Arabic [char.]). Though this sound had no real equivalent in Greek, [char.] is found in early inscriptions, e.g., as the initial of Κόρινθος Corinth, but was not accepted as a letter of the Athenian alphabet, being retained only as a numerical symbol = 90. In Latin, however, Q was regularly employed, in combination with V, in representing the double sound (kw) which arose partly from the labialized velar guttural, as in quis, quattuor, and partly from a palatal k followed by the labial semi-vowel, as in equus. In the Romanic tongues this Latin combination was either retained with its original value, or in certain cases (esp. in Fr.) was modified to a simple k-sound. In the former case the spelling with qu- has commonly been retained, even where the sound has at a later period been reduced to (k).
The Latin qu- might naturally have been adopted in OE. orthography to represent the Common Teutonic initial combination kw- (for which Wulfila employed the special sign [char.]); but though qu- is found in the earliest glosses and occas. in the Rushworth gospels, the ordinary OE. symbol for the sound was cw- (in early use also cu-). After the Conquest qu- was again introduced, though at first sparingly employed; quarterne appears in the Laud MS. of the OE. Chron., an. 1137, the Lambeth Hom. have quic, quiken (but cweð, cwiðe), and Ormin has quarrterrne once, though regularly using cw- except in quaþþrigan. In the 13th c. the usage varies in different MSS., and sometimes even in the same text. The earlier version of Layamon has regularly qu-, the later cw-; the Leg. St. Kath. and Jul. have cw-, but qu- in quoð; and the Ancren Riwle usually cw-, even in French words, but also qu-, esp. in French words. In Gen & Exod. there is no cw-, only qu- or quu- being used. By the end of the 13th c. cw- was entirely discontinued, and qu- (or its variants qv-, qw-) was the established spelling for all cases of the sound (kw), whether of English, French or Latin origin. The author of the Ayenbite, however, also writes ku-, and this, as well as kw-, is occas. found in other MSS. of the 14–15th c.
In certain dialects of ME., however, the combination qu- (quu-, qv-, qw-) was not confined to words in which it represented OE. cw- or Romanic qu-, but also took the place of ordinary ME. wh- (OE. hw-), as in quan, quat, qvele, qwelpe = when, what, wheel, whelp. The earliest occurrence of these spellings is in Gen. & Exod., where they are exclusively employed; in later use they are characteristically northern, and are found as late as 1570, Levins having quilome, quip = whilome, whip. In the 14–15th c. the combinations qh- and qhw- are similarly employed in MSS. written in the NE. midlands. Scottish scribes preferred quh- (qvh-, qwh-), which is also, though more rarely, used in northern English MSS.; this orthography survived till the 17th c., and is defended by A. Hume (Orthogr. Brit. Tongue, 18) as a more correct method of representing the sound than wh-. On the other hand wh- was freq. written by northern scribes in the 14–15th c. in place of qu-, as whik, wheme, white = quick, queme, quite; and alliteration of original qu- with wh- is not infrequent in some poems, as the Wars of Alexander, Destr. Troy and Morte Arthure. The pron. implied by this is still current in the northern and north-midland counties (not in Scotland): see esp. the words QUAINT, QUEME, QUEY, QUICK.
In certain words of French origin, qu- varies with c- in ME. and early mod.E. As in OF., this is most common when oi or ui follows: see the forms given under coif, coil, coin (quoin), coyn, quoit, cuirass, cuir-bouilli, cuisse, cushion, custron, and quaint. More rarely que- replaces original co- or cu-, as in quengeoun congeoun, quenger conjure, quenquest conquest, queral coral, querch curch, quesing cousin, questrel custrel; with these cf. the Norman quemander, quemencher, quemodité, quemun, etc. (Godef. and Moisy). In a few cases the qu- forms survive in western dial., as querd cord, quile coil, quine coin, quirt court. A similar variation of c and q in native words is rare, but quo- is sometimes found for co-, as in quod cod, quodgel cudgel, quore core, quorn corn: see also QUEEST, QUITCH sb.1 and COUCH sb.2, QUID sb.3
In ordinary mod.Engl. words Q is employed only in the combination qu, whether this is initial as in quake, quality, medial as in equal, sequence, or forming a final consonant (k) as in cheque, pique, grotesque. There is, however, a growing tendency among scholars to use Q by itself to transliterate the Semitic kōph, writing, e.g., Qabbala, Qaraite, Qurán for Cabbala, Karaite, Koran.
I. 1. Illustrations of the use of the letter.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gram., iii. (Z.), 6. h and k ʓeendiað on a æfter rihte. q ʓeendað on u.
1530. Palsgr., 9. Whan v followeth q in a frenche worde … than shall u be left unsounded.
a. 1637. B. Jonson, Eng. Gram., iv. (1640), 47. The English-Saxons knew not this halting Q. with her waiting-woman u, after her.
1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., s.v., Many grammarians, in imitation of the Greeks, banish the Q, as a superfluous letter.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), 724/2. The q is never sounded alone, but in conjunction with u … and never ends any English word.
1872. Morris, Eng. Accidence, 61. From this table of consonants we have omitted … q, because this is equivalent to kw.
2. Used to denote serial order, as ‘Q Battery,’ ‘Section Q,’ etc., or as a symbol of some thing or person, a point in a diagram, etc.
† 3. Q in the corner, ? = puss in the corner. Obs.
1782. Miss Burney, Cecilia, I. I. 41. I will either hide or seek with any boy in the Parish; and for a Q in the corner, there is none more celebrated.
II. Abbreviations.
1. Of Latin words or phrases. † a. Q (in mediæval notation) = 500; q., qu. = QUASI, as if; q. = quadrans farthing. Obs. b. † q. d. = quasi dictum ‘as if said,’ quasi dicat ‘as if one should say,’ etc.; † q. e. = quod est ‘which is’; q. v. = quod vide ‘which see.’ † c. From the language of medical prescriptions: q. l. = quantum libet, q. pl. = quantum placet ‘as much as one pleases’; q. s. = QUANTUM SUFFICIT; q. v. = quantum vis ‘as much as you wish.’ d. Formulæ placed at the end of mathematical problems, etc.: Q.E.D., Q.E.F., Q.E.I., = quod erat demonstrandum, faciendum, inveniendum, ‘which was to be demonstrated, done, found.’
1542. Recorde, Gr. Artes (1575), 29. q a farthing the iiij part of a penny.
1631. Weever, Anc. Fun. Mon., 240. Worth 1412l. 4s. 7d. ob. q.
1658. Phillips, Alfreton q. Alfred’s Town. Ibid. (1678), (ed. 4), Bangle-eared (qu. Bendle-eared).
1710. Lond. Gaz., No. 4706/2. The Ballance … amounting to 71019l. 1s. 5d. 2q. has been … credited to the Publick.
1721. Bailey, Gossip, of God, and Syb,… a Kinsman, q. d. Kindred in God.
1722. Quincy, Phys. Dict., 69/2. q.s. A sufficient Quantity.
1818. Moore, Fudge Fam. Paris, ii. 127. The argument’s quite new, you see, And proves exactly Q. E. D.
1848. Mrs. Gaskell, M. Barton (1882), 86/2. [My thoughts] don’t follow each other like the Q. E. D. of a Proposition.
2. Of English words or phrases. a. Q. = Queen; Q., q. = query, question; q. (in a ship’s log) = squalls; † q. = quod, QUOTH. Sc. Obs. b. Q.B. = Queen’s Bench; Q.C. = Queen’s Counsel (hence Q.C.-dom); Q.M. = Quartermaster; Q.M.G. = Quartermaster-General; Q. T., q. t. = quiet. slang. c. † qd. = quod, QUOTH. Obs.; qr. = quarter, quire; qt. = quart, quantity; qu. = query.
c. 1525. Douglas’ Æneis (Small), IV. 231. Qd. Gawinus Douglas.
1568. Bann. MS., in Poems A. Scott (S.T.S.), iii. 18. ffinis q. Alexr. Scott. Ibid., xviii. 52. q. Scott off þe Mr. of Erskyn.
1625. Bacon, Ess., Prophecies (Arb.), 536. The Q. Mother … caused the King her Husbands Natiuitie to be calculated.
1711. Lond. Gaz., No. 4845/4. 4 Bales qt. each 3 c. of Coffee.
1734. Ward, Young Math. Guide (ed. 6), 90. A Grocer bought 3 c. 1 qr. 14 lb. Weight of Cloves.
1865. Cornh. Mag., Aug., 144. The hard struggle was over, the comparative table-land of Q. C.-dom gained.
1884. G. Moore, Mummer’s Wife (1887), 99. It will be possible to have one spree on the strict q. t.
1893. Mrs. Clifford, Aunt Anne, II. 293. She is sister of an eminent Q. C.
