Dictionary

quid pro quo en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌkwɪd.pɹəʊˈkwəʊ/ (UK)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˌkwɪd.pɹoʊˈkwoʊ/ (US)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin quid prō quō (literally “something for something”).

Meanings

1. Something which is understood as something else; an equivocation.
   • 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. 1982, Carl Dahlhaus, Esthetics of Music, page 52:
   • 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. 1844, Arthur Schopenhauer, translated by Richard Burdon Haldane, The World as Will and Representation, 2nd edition, first book, translation of original in German, section 13:
   • “Is it simply a wild fantasy, or a mistake on the part of the old man — some impossible quid pro quo?” 1912, Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Constance Garnett, The Brothers Karamazov, translation of original in Russian, part II, book V, chapter 5:
2. (historical) Substitution of one drug for another.
   • 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? 1917, Otto Raubenheimer, “History of Substitutes and Substitution”, in Druggists Circular, volume 61, page 188:
   • 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. 1621-51, Robert Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy:
   • 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 1889, Johann Hermann Baas, Henry Ebenezer Handerson, Outlines of the History of Medicine and the Medical Profession, page 263:
3. Something which is offered or asked for in exchange for something else.
   • In 2019 [Jeffrey] Epstein seeks reputational advice from Steve Bannon about which journalists might give him an easy hearing, before offering as a quid pro quo an introduction to [Noam] Chomsky[…] 2026 February 7, Amelia Gentleman, “Sex and snacks, but no seat at the table: the role of women in Epstein’s sordid men’s club”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2026:
   • To deny that the arrangement was a quid pro quo would be laughably disingenuous.
   • the US recently supported the European candidate for the IMF and may receive a quid pro quo 2012 March 24, Steve Denning, “The World Bank Is Broken: Can The New President Fix It?”, in Forbes, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2012:
   • It was quite obviously a quid pro quo arrangement.
   • People don't like to talk about it, but inherent to every relationship there's a quid pro quo— something that's exchanged in return for something else. The quid pro quo can be obvious, such as I give you a salary and in return I expect you to do a good job, or more subtly, I give you a recommendation and in turn expect you'll help me get my expense check processed faster. It's an unspoken system of bartering that goes on in relationships. Women aren't very good at capitalizing on the quid pro quo. Instead, they give away favors and expect little or nothing in return. 2014, Lois P. Frankel, Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office:
   • To him I offered a quid pro quo; and meant to give nothing without getting a full equivalent. 1819, The Parliamentary History of England from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803, volume 35, page 1129:
   • Whie Demanding Great sacrifices from the workforce, Germany's rulers had proved unable by autumn 1916 to offer a quid pro quo in the form of a military victory, more democracy, or even a modest redistribution of income. 2001, Authority and Upheaval in Leipzig, 1910-1920, page 148:
   • McLaren did not want Mercedes to buy Brawn so when the German company insisted, they demanded a quid pro quo that, as far as McLaren are concerned, contains all the positives of a Mercedes involvement but none of the negatives. 2009 November 16, Andrew Benson, “What Mercedes buy-out of Brawn could mean”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2019:
4. A usually non-monetary exchange transaction, or series or process of exchange transactions.
   • I call it quid pro quo while other authors have described it as “the art of reciprocity.” 2011 December 14, Susan T. Spencer, “Business Networking That Works ... It's Called Quid Pro Quo”, in Forbes, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2012:
   • Neither the envelope nor the entry form indicated whether a donation was enclosed. Because there was no obligation to pay to enter the sweepstakes, payments voluntarily sent were fully deductible. No quid pro quo occurred. 2012, Jody Blazek, Tax Planning and Compliance for Tax-Exempt Organizations:
   • All I'm asking for is a little quid pro quo. You know—you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. 2018, Vicki Grant, Quid Pro Quo:
   • Council says the mayor and a former councilman may have engaged in a "quid pro quo." / […] / Council says, according to a handwritten note, Fey offered to support a pay raise for Mayor Ellis if Ellis would support a raise or a job appointment for Fey's wife, Gina. 2019 March 4, “Phillipsburg council calls for new investigation of alleged quid pro quo”, in 69 News, archived from the original on 01 Jun 2026:
   • 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. 2004, Lisbeth S. Fried, The Priest and the Great King: Temple-palace Relations in the Persian Empire, page 74:
   • All are based on the concept of quid pro quo, or “this for that” – the exchange of one thing for another. […] In McDonnell, the government alleged a quid pro quo sale of “official action” – payments (the quid) made to McDonnell, the former governor of Virginia, in return for a promise or undertaking by McDonnell to perform an official action (the quo). The Court’s decision focused on the quo side of the equation – a side that does not often receive much scrutiny – analyzing the contours of whether the actions taken by McDonnell constituted illegal “official actions.” 2016 July 13, Robert Anello, “SCOTUS Quid Pro Quo Analysis in McDonnell May Broadly Affect Bribery & Insider Trading Prosecutions”, in Forbes, archived from the original on 16 Apr 2020:
   • The requisite intent is proved by showing a quid pro quo—an expectation of a favorable official act in return for the bribe. 2006, John Cibinic, Jr.; Ralph C. Nash; James F. Nagle, Administration of Government Contracts, page 84:
   • 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. 1997, Davita Silfen Glasberg, Daniel L. Skidmore, Corporate Welfare Policy and the Welfare State, page 138:
5. A usually non-monetary exchange transaction, or series or process of exchange transactions. ▸ An equal or fair transaction or series of process of exchange transactions; tit for tat.
   • What we should do, however, is insist that there be a quid pro quo — an equal exchange. 1988, Industrial R&D and U.S. Technological Leadership:
   • Mr. P. did not consider that branch, strictly and technically speaking, public revenue; at least it did not arise from taxation, because those persons who had paid this money had received a full equivalent for the same; there was a quid pro quo on both sides; and this was not taxation, it was a sale; the parties therefore from whom this money was derived had not been taxed. 1837, United States. Congress, The Congressional Globe, page 1977:
   • Most of those cases were about witness immunity deals (was there a quid pro quo?) or the meaning of quid pro quo in the classic “equality of exchange” sense. 2014, Zephyr Teachout, Corruption in America, page 239:
   • US-Myanmar relations in the past few years have been largely based on a quid pro quo or tit for tat strategy. Some analysts also call it action for action or give and take strategy. 2013 May 21, Nehginpao Kipgen, “Quid Pro Quo Diplomacy in US-Myanmar Relations”, in Foreign Policy Journal, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2019:
6. Sexual harassment in which a person in a workplace implicitly or explicitly requires sexual favours in exchange for something.
   • As for a legal remedy to the problem of harassment, the Court found that a proper, well-advertised grievance procedure could be used in a defense where sexual comments and horseplay created a “hostile environment,” but not in the quid pro quo cases that feminist Catharine MacKinnon had dubbed "put out or get out." 2009, Frank Dobbin, Inventing Equal Opportunity:
   • A quid pro quo complaint typically is lodged by an employee who has been denied opportunities because he or she refused a perpetrator's sexual advances or by an employee who has been denied opportunities because another employee obtained those opportunities by submitting to a perpetrator's sexual advances. 2008, Ronald W. Scott, Promoting Legal and Ethical Awareness, page 140:
   • 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. 2018, Walter B. Connolly, Jr.; Michael J. Connolly; Joshua Feinstein, A Practical Guide to Equal Employment Opportunity, page 161:

Forms

Relateds

backscratcher · green handshake · return the favor · you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours · one must give to get · scratch someone's back · pay-to-play · tit for tat · backscratching

Synonyms

barter (exchange transaction) · trade (exchange transaction) · QPQ · swap (exchange transaction)

Translations (24)

fr donnant-donnant (something offered or asked in exchange for something else) · es quid pro quo ((usually non-monetary) exchange transaction) · fi väärinkäsitys (something understood as another) · la dō ut dēs ((usually non-monetary) exchange transaction) · it quiproquò (something understood as another) · cmn 模稜 /模棱 (something understood as another) · fi vaihto (substitution of one drug for another) · fi epäselvyys (something understood as another) · he דבר כנגד דבר (something understood as another) · fr contrepartie (something offered or asked in exchange for something else) · it do ut des (something understood as another) · it qui pro quo (something understood as another) · fi vastike (something offered or asked in exchange for something else) · ar واحدة بواحدة (something offered or asked in exchange for something else) · cmn 含糊 (something understood as another) · ru кипроко́ (something understood as another) · fr quiproquo (something understood as another) · es quid pro quo (something understood as another) · ru квипрокво́ (something understood as another) · ayl أعطيني نعطيك ((usually non-monetary) exchange transaction) · pt quiproquó (something understood as another) · sv tjänster och gentjänster (fair or equal exchange transaction) · fi vaihtokauppa ((usually non-monetary) exchange transaction) · pl coś za coś (something offered or asked in exchange for something else)