quarter

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Andrew Sheedy (talk | contribs) as of 04:55, 16 January 2020.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: quarter-

English

A US quarter, 25 cent coin.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈk(w)ɔːtə/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈk(w)ɔɹ.tɚ/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "NZ" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈkoː.tɘ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)tə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

Via French quartier, from Latin quartarius, from quartus. Compare Spanish cuarto (“room, quarters; quarter”).

Adjective

quarter (not comparable)

  1. Pertaining to an aspect of a quarter.
  2. (chiefly) Consisting of a fourth part, a quarter (1/4, 25%).
    a quarter hour; a quarter century; a quarter note; a quarter pound
  3. (chiefly) Related to a three-month term, a quarter of a year.
    A quarter day is one terminating a quarter of the year.
    A quarter session is one held quarterly at the end of a quarter.
Antonyms
Usage notes

Often used in a combining form quarter-.

Derived terms

Noun

quarter (countable and uncountable, plural quarters)

  1. Any fourth of something, particularly:
    1. A quarter-dollar, divided into 25 cents; the coin of that value minted in the United States or Canada.
    2. (now chiefly financial) A quarter of the year, 3 months; a season.
    3. (historical) The quarter-ton or tun, divided into 8 bushels, the medieval English unit of volume and weight named by the Magna Carta as the basis for measures of wine, ale, and grain
      • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 204:
        One of these is 1 Hen. V, cap. 10, defining the quarter of corn [i.e., grain] to be eight struck bushels, and putting fines on purveyors who take more.
    4. (historical) The quarter-yard, divided into 4 nails, an obsolete English unit of length long used in the cloth trade
    5. (historical) The watch: A quarter of the night, nominally 3 hours but varying over the year.
      • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark VI:
        And aboute the fourth quartre of the nyght, he cam unto them, walkinge apon the see [...].
    6. (heraldry) A charge occupying a fourth of a coat of arms, larger than a canton and normally on the upper dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top meeting a horizontal line from the side.
    7. (basketball) A period into which a game is divided. (usually 8, 10 or 12 minutes according to the rules).
    8. quarterfinal
  2. Any substantial fraction of something less than half, particularly:
    1. A division or section of a town or other area, whether or not it constituted a fourth of the whole.
    2. (usually in the plural) A living place, from which:
      1. (military slang, now rare) A quartermaster; a quartermaster sergeant.
        • 1925, Ford Madox Ford, “Parade's End”, in No More Parades, Penguin, published 2012, page 360:
          Tietjens said: ‘Send the Canadian sergeant-major to me at the double….’ to the quarter.
      2. (uncountable, obsolete except in phrase no quarter) Amity, friendship, concord; (now) accommodation given to a defeated opponent, mercy.
        • (Can we date this quote?), Shakespeare, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
          In quarter, and in terms like bride and groom.
        • (Can we date this quote?), Francis Bacon, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
          I knew two that were competitors for the secretary's place, […] and yet kept good quarter between themselves.
        • 1955, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, page 1110:
          Hard fighting and long labour they had still; for the Southrons were bold men and grim, and fierce in despair, and the Easterlings were strong and war-hardened and asked for no quarter.
    3. The part on either side of a horse's hoof between the toe and heel, the side of its coffin.
      • 1877, Anna Sewell, chapter 23, in Black Beauty‎[1]:
        […] at last she kicked right over the carriage pole and fell down, after giving me a severe blow on my near quarter.
    4. (nautical) The aftmost part of a vessel's side, roughly from the last mast to the stern.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

quarter (third-person singular simple present quarters, present participle quartering, simple past and past participle quartered)

  1. (transitive) To divide into quarters; to divide by four.
  2. (transitive) To provide housing for military personnel or other equipment.
    Quarter the horses in the third stable.
  3. (intransitive) To lodge; to have a temporary residence.
  4. (transitive) To quartersaw.
    • 1758, Thomas Hale, A Compleat Body Of Husbandry, page 333:
      But there is, as in other woods, a great deal of difference between this and the quartered timber.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations
to quartersaw — see quartersaw
See also

References

Adjective
  • "quarter" at Merriam-Webster
  • "quarter" in Harrap's Shorter, 2006, p. 761

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French cartayer.

Verb

quarter (third-person singular simple present quarters, present participle quartering, simple past and past participle quartered)

  1. (obsolete) To drive a carriage so as to prevent the wheels from going into the ruts, or so that a rut shall be between the wheels.
    • (Can we date this quote?), De Quincey.:
      Every creature that met us would rely on us for quartering

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin quartus.

Pronunciation

Noun

quarter m (plural quarters)

  1. fourth
  2. quarter

Synonyms

Derived terms

Further reading

French

French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr

Etymology

From English.

Pronunciation

Noun

quarter m (plural quarters)

  1. quarter (old measure of corn)

Further reading

Anagrams

Old French

Alternative forms

Noun

quarter oblique singular, m (oblique plural quarters, nominative singular quarters, nominative plural quarter)

  1. (chiefly Anglo-Norman) quarter (one fourth)

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=quarter&oldid=58429188"