quad·rat 
(kw
ŏd
r
ət, -r
ăt
′)
n.1. Printing A piece of type metal lower than the raised typeface, used for filling spaces and blank lines. Also called quad2.
2. Any of a group of small, usually rectangular plots of land used for sampling the occurrence of species or of archaeological artifacts.
[Middle English, a square geometric instrument, rectangular area; see QUADRATE.]