Emily Dickinson Lexicon

QUOTH, v.i. [Sax. cwythan, cythan, Goth. quithan, to say, to tell; W. gwed, gwedyd; Ir. ceadach. Qu. L. inquio, contracted.]

To say; to speak. This verb is defective, being used only in the first and third persons in the present and past tenses; as, quoth I, quoth he, and the nominative always follows the verb. It is used only in ludicrous language, and has no variation for person, number or tense.