MEANING
1. Death considered as the final ending of a life or release from its burdens.
2. Something that finally stops, silences, or puts an end to an activity or disturbance.
3. A final settlement that releases someone from a debt or obligation.
Use it for
using a literary euphemism for death; portraying death as final release; describing a character’s awareness of an ultimate endingFrames death or another definitive ending as a final release, while distinguishing its older financial meaning. Writing functions: Death / Mortality.
Words that belong together
- meet one’s quietus
- a final quietus
- find a quietus
On the page
He spoke of his quietus as though it were a journey he had already arranged.
She could imagine no quietus that would settle the claims of memory.
The missing ledger put the quietus on their plans for an easy sale.
Her final letter gave the quarrel its quietus, though not its resolution.
The receipt served as his quietus on the disputed debt.
Word forms
- Base
- quietus
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Usage notes
Countable noun, usually singular in literary use; plural quietuses. No verbal forms. A final ending is central; the word does not necessarily imply a peaceful manner of death. Register: literary. Commonness: uncommon; legal-settlement use is historical or specialized (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
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