Definition of "quoth"
quoth
verb
(archaic or literary, now defective) simple past of quethe; said
Quotations
“Good morrow to thee, jolly fellow,” quoth Robin, “thou seemest happy this merry morn.” ¶ “Ay, that am I,” quoth the jolly Butcher, “and why should I not be so? Am I not hale in wind and limb? Have I not the bonniest lass in all Nottinghamshire? And lastly, am I not to be married to her on Thursday next in sweet Locksley Town?”
1883, Howard Pyle, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […]
verb
third-person singular simple present quoths, present participle quothing, simple past and past participle quothed
(defective, modal, auxiliary, nonstandard, archaic) To say.
Quotations
But the Healing-one stood before the under-king, and the under-king arraigned him, quothing, thou art the king of the Jews? the Healing-one quoths him, thou quoths.
1807, Samuel Henshall, The Gothic Gospel of Saint Matthew, from the Codex Argenteus of the Fourth Century; with the Corresponding English, or Saxon, from the Durham Book of the Eighth Century, in Roman Characters; […], London: […] J. White, […], chapter XXVII, page 71
The owner had the power of transmitting the possession to an heir by bequest, by quothing or speaking forth the name of the intended successor to the lord.
1864, Francis Palgrave, “The Conqueror, from Hastings to the Coronation. 1066.”, in The History of Normandy and of England, volumes III (Richard Sans-Peur—Richard Le-Bon—Richard III.—Robert Le-Diable—William the Conqueror), London: Macmillan & Co., page 402
“Why, no,” quothed Jonathan; “for to tell thee the truth, friend, though I am a man of peace, being of that religious order known as the Society of Friends, I am not so weak in person nor so timid in disposition as to warrant me in being afraid of any one. […]”
1908, Howard Pyle, “The Mysterious Lady With the Silver Veil”, in The Ruby of Kishmoor, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, page 15
Gunn-ar quoths to Eve: “Hail dawn! […]”
1930, L[aurence] A[ustine] Waddell, The British Edda: The Great Epic Poem of the Ancient Britons on the Exploits of King Thor, Arthur or Adam and his Knights in Establishing Civilization Reforming Eden & Capturing the Holy Grail About 3380-3350 B.C., London: Chapman & Hall Ltd., page 93
Then, one evening I arrived home to find him sitting atop the doorway transom like Poe’s raven, quothing his usual owl equivalent of “I’m starving!” while roundabout the furniture displayed a day’s worth of fumets and splashy excrement.
1996, Donald G. Schueler, “An evening interlude”, in A Handmade Wilderness, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: a Mariner Book, Houghton Mifflin Company, page 116