entry
quarter
/ˈkwɔːrtər/One of four equal parts or divisions
From Latin, ultimately Proto-Indo-European quart- (fourth part).
from PIE root *kwetwer- "four"). One of the earliest dated references in English is to "parts of the body as...
from Latin quartarius "fourth part,"
+1 more sourcefrom Old French quartier , cartier (12c.)
from Middle English quarter
Word Ancestry
from PIE root *kwetwer- "four"). One of the earliest dated references in English is to "parts of the body as...
from Latin quartarius "fourth part,"
+1 more sourcefrom Old French quartier , cartier (12c.)
from Middle English quarter
A quarter began life as a brutally practical idea: divide something into four, especially a slaughtered animal, and each chunk is a quartier. By about 1300, English speakers were using the word for the body parts produced by execution—an unsettling reminder that vocabulary often grows out of ordinary, grim work. The same ancient “four” also produced quadrant, the quarter-circle instrument used by surveyors, and farthing, literally an old Germanic “fourth part” of a penny. Later, American football put a quarterback between the center and halfback in 1876, turning a position in a fraction of the field into the person who directs the whole play. Quarter is therefore a small word with a big mathematical afterlife: cut a pie, map the sky, divide a year, or run a team, and “four” is still quietly organizing the scene.
The Story
A quarter began life as a brutally practical idea: divide something into four, especially a slaughtered animal, and each chunk is a quartier. By about 1300, English speakers were using the word for the body parts produced by execution—an unsettling reminder that vocabulary often grows out of ordinary, grim work. The same ancient “four” also produced quadrant, the quarter-circle instrument used by surveyors, and farthing, literally an old Germanic “fourth part” of a penny. Later, American football put a quarterback between the center and halfback in 1876, turning a position in a fraction of the field into the person who directs the whole play. Quarter is therefore a small word with a big mathematical afterlife: cut a pie, map the sky, divide a year, or run a team, and “four” is still quietly organizing the scene.
Modern Usage
A neighborhood called the Quarter, especially New Orleans’s French Quarter; also a humorous term for a short man with a very tall girlfriend
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries for “the Quarter” and “other quarter”
Kin & Kindred
From 'quart-'·fourth part; four
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary