English

Alternative forms

• (archaic) requit

Verb

requite ‎(third-person singular simple present requites, present participle requiting, simple past and past participle requited)

1. To return in kind; to repay; to recompense; to reward.
   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 3 scene 3

     But, remember—

     For that's my business to you,—that you three

     From Milan did supplant good Prospero;

     Expos'd unto the sea, which hath requit it,

     Him, and his innocent child: for which foul deed

     The powers, delaying, not forgetting, have

     Incens'd the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,

     Against your peace.

   • 1925, Franz Kafka, The Trial, Vintage Books (London), pg. 91:

     He bowed slightly to K.'s uncle, who appeared very flattered to make this new acquaintance, yet, being by nature incapable of expressing obligation, requited the Clerk of the Court's words with a burst of embarrassed but raucous laughter.

2. To retaliate.

Derived terms

• unrequited

Translations

Anagrams

• quieter

References

• requite in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• requite in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913