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Requite is most familiar in the phrase “unrequited love.” Love that has not been requited is love that has not been returned or paid back in kind. Indeed, the idea of repayment undergirds all the senses of the verb requite, which include the most common sense of “to repay” (usually applied to amorous affection or feeling), “to avenge,” and “to make suitable return to for a benefit or service, or for an injury.” The quite in requite is a now-obsolete English verb meaning “to make full payment of” or “to pay.” (The verb's ultimate root is Latin quietus, meaning “quiet; at rest.”) This quite is also related to the English verb quit, the oldest meanings of which include “to pay up” and “to set free.”
Examples of requite in a Sentence
Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2025
The individuals are putting money to work furiously, in individual stocks, demonstrating faith not in Trump, but in business, and it is being requited and will continue to be requited with higher stock prices.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 13 July 2025
Reflecting Lee’s turmoil as he’s tormented by heroin withdrawals and his not entirely requited affection for Allerton, the film is moody, and the sets reflect the interior landscapes of its characters.
—Rachel Davies, Architectural Digest, 16 Dec. 2024
In the book, the main character falls in love with an android that only pretends to requite his feelings.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 Mar. 2023
But his love wasn’t always requited.
—Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2023
Looks like the love Taylor Swift has for Grey’s Anatomy is fully requited!
—Starr Bowenbank, Billboard, 15 Feb. 2023
An intensity which can be called religious characterizes the devotion shown to their community by literally millions of people who routinely sacrifice — time, money, labor — to remark that devotion; and, using their own language, methods, and skills, to requite the community.
—William F. Buckley Jr., National Review, 26 Nov. 2020
There’s a lot to requite my love.
—Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 18 Aug. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Requite.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/requite. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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