Quaint
/kweɪnt/noun
Attractively unusual, old-fashioned, or charming in an odd way.
Did you know?Quaint comes from the same Latin root as words about knowing and making known, and its history shows how “clever” can slowly soften into “charming” over centuries.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
cognōscere
“to learn to know, become acquainted with”
Old French
Old French
cointe
“clever, knowing, elegant, pretty”
Middle English
English
queynte
“clever, strange, pretty, artful”
15th Century
English
quaint
“ingenious, elegant, unusual”
Modern English
English
quaint
“attractively old-fashioned or unusual”