quittance

/'kwitəns/

Thân thiện

The tenant received a quittance after paying the final month's rent.

Definition

Noun: 1. A release or discharge from a debt or obligation: The act of freeing someone from a financial or moral duty. 2. A document or receipt serving as evidence of such a release: A written certificate confirming that a debt has been paid or an obligation has been fulfilled.

Usage and Examples

• As a release from obligation:
  • Upon final payment, the lender provided a quittance from the mortgage.
  • The court granted him quittance from his contractual duties due to unforeseen circumstances.
• As a receipt or document:
  • Keep the quittance as proof that you have settled the account.
  • The historical archive contained a quittance signed by the king, absolving the town of its annual tax.

Advanced Usage

• Legal and Historical Context: The term is most commonly found in formal, legal, or historical texts. In modern everyday English, words like "receipt," "release," or "discharge" are more frequent.
• Figurative Use: Rarely, it can be used figuratively to mean a release from a non-financial burden.
  • He sought quittance from the guilt that had haunted him for years.

Variants and Related Words

• Quit (verb): To leave or to stop doing something. Historically, it also meant to repay or to set free, which is the root of "quittance."
• Acquittance (noun): A near-synonym, also meaning a receipt or release from debt. "Quittance" and "acquittance" are often used interchangeably in legal history.

Synonyms

• Receipt: A written acknowledgment of having received money or goods.
• Discharge: The action of releasing someone from a duty, debt, or obligation.
• Release: The action of setting someone free from a constraint or obligation.
• Absolution: Formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment (often in a moral or religious context).

Idioms and Phrases

• "Quittance is not acquittance" / "Omittance is not quittance": This is a proverbial phrase, meaning that failing to demand payment (omittance) does not mean the debt is forgiven or discharged (quittance). Simply because a creditor does not ask for repayment, it does not release the debtor from the obligation.
  • Just because they haven't sent a bill this year doesn't mean you don't owe the money. Remember, omittance is not quittance.

Học thuật

Noun

1. payment of a debt or obligation
2. a document or receipt certifying release from an obligation or debt

Từ đồng nghĩa

• repayment