Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Quaint
Quaint
,Adj.
1.
Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily.
[Obs.]
Clerks be full subtle and full
quaint
. Chaucer.
2.
Characterized by ingenuity or art; finely fashioned; skillfully wrought; elegant; graceful; nice; neat.
[Archaic]
“ The queynte ring.” “ His queynte spear.” Chaucer.
“ A shepherd young quaint.” Chapman.
Every look was coy and wondrous
quaint
. Spenser.
To show bow
quaint
an orator you are. Shakespeare
3.
Curious and fanciful; affected; odd; whimsical; antique; archaic; singular; unusual;
as,
quaint
architecture; a quaint
expression.Some stroke of
quaint
yet simple pleasantry. Macaulay.
An old, long-faced, long-bodied servant in
quaint
livery. W. Irving.
Antique is applied to that which has come down from the ancients, or which is made to imitate some ancient work of art. Odd implies disharmony, incongruity, or unevenness. An odd thing or person is an exception to general rules of calculation and procedure, or expectation and common experience. In the current use of quaint, the two ideas of odd and antique are combined, and the word is commonly applied to that which is pleasing by reason of both these qualities. Thus, we speak of the quaint architecture of many old buildings in London; or a quaint expression, uniting at once the antique and the fanciful.
Webster 1828 Edition
Quaint
QUAINT
,Adj.
1.
Nice; scrupulously and superfluously exact; having petty elegance; as a quaint phrase; a quaint fashion.To show how quaint an orator you are.
2.
Subtle; artful. Obs.3.
Fine-spun; artfully framed.4.
Affected; as quaint fopperies.5.
In common use, odd; fanciful; singular; and so used by Chaucer.