Etymology: Probably partly (i) < Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French quarte, feminine noun (French quarte ; use as noun of feminine of quart , adjective: see below), partly (ii) < Anglo-Norman and Middle French quart, masculine noun (French quart ; use as noun of quart (adjective) fourth (c1100); < classical Latin quartus : see below), partly (iii) < classical Latin quarta fourth part, quarter (short for pars quarta fourth part; use as noun of feminine of quartus fourth: see below), and partly (iv: in senses 3a, 3b, which are apparently unparalleled in French or Latin) shortened < quarter n. (in quot. 1590 at sense 3b perhaps for the purposes of rhyme; compare quarter n. 12a, 14a). Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French quarte shows the senses ‘vessel having a capacity of a quart’ (13th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman), ‘measure of capacity for liquids or (less frequently) solids, varying by region’ (1233 denoting a measure of uncertain size (perhaps equal to two pints), 14th cent. or earlier denoting a measure equal to a quarter of a gallon), ‘fourth part of a whole’ (1362 or earlier), ‘(in music) interval of a fourth’ (c1400 in an apparently isolated attestation, subsequently from 1588); Anglo-Norman and Middle French quart shows the senses ‘fourth part of a whole’ (c1170 in Old French), ‘quarter of a pound’ (1389 in an apparently isolated attestation in the passage translated in quot. c1425 at sense 2a, subsequently from late 19th cent.); however, in Anglo-Norman the gender varies considerably. In post-classical Latin quarta also shows the senses: ‘fourth part of a tithe’ (9th cent.), ‘quarter of the year’ (late 12th cent. in a British source), ‘quarter of the moon’ (13th cent. in a British source), ‘farthing’ (13th cent. in a British source), ‘liquid measure, quarter of a gallon’ (from 13th cent. in British sources), ‘quart pot’, ‘quarter of a pound’ (frequently from 13th cent. in British sources), ‘(in music) interval of a fourth’ (16th cent.). Classical Latin quartus (adjective) fourth is < an ablaut variant (zero-grade) of the Indo-European base of quattuor four (see quatuor n.) + the Indo-European base of -tus, suffix forming ordinal numerals, with -a- in the stem after quattuor.Compare Old Occitan carta (feminine) dry measure (late 12th cent.; also quarta ), cart (masculine) fourth part (beginning of the 12th cent.), farthing (early 15th cent.), denoting a measure (end of the 15th cent.; also quart ), Catalan quarta (feminine) grain measure (12th cent.), fourth part (second half of the 13th cent.), unit of weight (beginning of the 15th cent.), quart (masculine) tax amounting to one-fourth of the taxed value (12th cent.), fourth part (second half of the 13th cent.), farthing (end of the 14th cent.), Spanish cuarta (feminine) farthing (10th cent.), measure of value (end of the 11th cent.), liquid measure (early 12th cent.; all as †quarta ), cuarto (masculine) measure (late 11th cent.), fourth part (first half of the 12th cent.; both as †quarto ), Portuguese quarta , feminine (end of the 12th cent.), quarto , masculine (1720), Italian quarto , masculine, quarta , feminine (both first half of the 13th cent. or earlier); also Middle Dutch quarte , feminine (Dutch †kwarte ), quart , masculine (Dutch kwart ), Middle Low German quārte , feminine (also quārt ), Middle High German quarte , feminine (German Quarte ), German Quart , neuter (late 14th cent.). In sense 4 after Spanish cuarto (16th cent. or earlier in this sense). With sense 5 compare Middle Low German quārte , Middle High German quarte (German Quarte ), and Italian quarta (1556 in this sense). On the β. forms see discussion at Q n.

Etymology: Apparently a variant of carte n.¹, perhaps influenced by Middle French quarte (end of the 15th cent. or earlier in this sense, in quarte de naviguer navigational chart), variant of carte carte n.¹

Etymology: < French quarte sequence of four consecutive cards of the same suit (although this is apparently first attested slightly later: 1680; the usual word in this sense is now quatrième , literally ‘fourth’, which replaced quarte because of the homophony with carte card n.²), use as noun of quarte , feminine of quart fourth (see quart n.²). Compare earlier quint n.² 1, tierce n.¹ 7.In quart major n. probably after French †quarte major (1690; now quarte majeure).

Etymology: Probably (although the semantic correspondence is not exact) < an early Scandinavian adjective (compare Old Icelandic kvirr , (in later sources) kyrr , Old Norwegian kvirr (Norwegian regional kvar ), Old Danish kwær , kwar (Danish (now archaic or poetic) kvær , †kvar , †qvær ), Old Swedish qvar , qvarr , qverr , etc. (Swedish kvar , †kvarr , †qvar ), all in sense ‘quiet, still, not moving’), cognate with Middle Low German quēr , quēre (especially of animals) tame, gentle, obedient (German regional (Low German) quer , quir ), Middle High German kurre , kirre tame, well-behaved (German (originally regional: central) kirre , †kurre , †kürre , etc. (of animals) tame, (of people) gentle, well-behaved, obedient (now almost exclusively in kirre machen to tame (a person or animal), to cause (a person or animal) to be obedient)), Gothic qairrus friendly, gentle (translating ancient Greek ἤπιος gentle, kind), further etymology uncertain (for a summary of suggested Indo-European etymologies, all of which encounter phonological and especially semantic difficulties, see F. Heidermanns Etymol. Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive (1993) 350–2). The final -t of the English word apparently reflects the neuter singular ending of the early Scandinavian adjective; compare scant adj., thwart adj., want n.², wight adj.On the forms with initial wh- see discussion at Q n.

Etymology: Either < French quarter to use the quart position in fencing (1622; < quarte quart n.⁴), or directly < quart n.⁴

Etymology: Probably shortened < quarter v. (although this is apparently first attested later in its corresponding sense quarter v. 10c, but compare earlier quarter v. 10a).