During the mutiny of his legions in 47 BC, Julius Caesar expressed the dismissal of his army by addressing them as Quirites, implying his soldiers had been returned to civilian life.
Latin Quirītis most likely stems from an earlier *quiri-, although an etymology from *queri- cannot be excluded in view of the sporadic assimilation of *e to an i in the following syllable.
According to linguist Michiel de Vaan, since the quirīs and Quirīnus are connected with Sabellic immigrants into Rome in ancient legends, it may be a loanword.
[3] The etymology *ko-wir-, then *co-uiri-um, 'assembly of the men', has been proposed by some scholars,[4] although de Vaan notes that it "is not credible phonetically and not very compelling semantically".
According to Varro, it originally meant 'to implore the aid of the Quirītes or Roman citizens' (quiritare dicitur is qui Quiritum fidem clamans implorat).