Emily Dickinson Lexicon

QUAINT, a. [Old Fr. coint, Arm. coent, coant, pretty. In Norman French, coint is familiar, affable, and accoinet, is very necessary or familiar. The latter word would lead us to refer quaint to the Latin accinctus, ready, but Skinner thinks it more probably from comptus, neat, well dressed.]

1. Nice; scrupulously and superfluously exact; having petty elegance; as, a quaint phrase; a quaint fashion. – Sidney. Shak. To show how quaint an orator you are. – Shak.
2. Subtil; artful. [Obs.] – Chaucer.
3. Fine-spun; artfully framed. – Shak. Milton.
4. Affected; as, quaint fopperies. – Swift.
5. In common use, odd; fanciful; singular; and so used by Chaucer.