quid pro quo

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Something which is understood as something else

   Something which is understood as something else; an equivocation.

   • The misunderstanding of the word or the quid pro quo is the unintentional pun, and is related to it exactly as folly is to wit.
   • “Is it simply a wild fantasy, or a mistake on the part of the old man — some impossible quid pro quo?”
   • His argument was formulated, not without reason, as a paradox, a quid pro quo of opposing concepts: form is declared to be content, thus its own opposite.
2. 2

   Substitution of one drug for another.

   • a knave Apothecary that administers the Physick, and makes the medicine, may doe infinite harme, by his old obsolete doses, adulterine druggs, bad mixtures, quid pro quo, etc.
   • Nicholas [Praepositus] was also the author of a "Quid pro Quo", that is an alphabetically arranged catalogue of equivalent drugs, capable of replacing each other, when for any reason one or the other drug was wanting
   • Was it not Claudius Galenus (130-200 A. D.), the great Roman physician-pharmacist, who was about the very first to prepare a lengthy list of drugs, quid pro quo, a list which remained in use until about the sixteenth century?
3. 3

   Something which is offered or asked for in exchange for something else.

   • To deny that the arrangement was a quid pro quo would be laughably disingenuous.
   • It was quite obviously a quid pro quo arrangement.
   • To him I offered a quid pro quo; and meant to give nothing without getting a full equivalent.
4. ›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A usually non-monetary exchange transaction, or series or process of exchange…

      A usually non-monetary exchange transaction, or series or process of exchange transactions.

      • More importantly, the Chrysler bailout produced a quid pro quo wherein Congress agreed to pass bank deregulation legislation if banks agreed to convert substantial amounts of Chrysler's debt to equity.
      • The apparent exception at the Temple of Neith at Sais is likely due to an agreement, a quid pro quo, made with Udjahorresnet, not to a failure to enact the command immediately.
      • The requisite intent is proved by showing a quid pro quo—an expectation of a favorable official act in return for the bribe.
   2. 5

      Sexual harassment in which a person in a workplace implicitly or explicitly requires…

      Sexual harassment in which a person in a workplace implicitly or explicitly requires sexual favours in exchange for something.

      • American courts have recognized two forms of sexual harassment. In the first, quid pro quo cases, the violation occurs when an employer or supervisor conditions an employment benefit on the employee's providing sexual favors.

The neighborhood

• synonymbarterexchange transaction
• synonymswapexchange transaction
• synonymtradeexchange transaction