Where does “Quaternary” come from?
Quaternary comes from French Quaternaire, meaning "consisting of four" or "fourth in order," ultimately deriving from Latin quaternārius with the same sense.
Quaternary (English): The geological period of the Cenozoic Era immediately following the Tertiary. It is subdivided into the Pleistocene and the Holocene Epochs
Definitions
- The geological period of the Cenozoic Era immediately following the Tertiary. It is subdivided into the Pleistocene and the Holocene Epochs
Ancestry of “Quaternary”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | quaternārius | containing or consisting of four things |
| 2 | Latin | quaternus | four each; four at a time |
| 3 | Latin | quater | four times |
| 4 | Latin | quattŭor | four; 4 |
| 5 | Portuguese | quarto | ordinal form of quatro; fourth; quarter; fourth;... |
| 6 | Old Portuguese | quarto | quarter |
| 7 | Latin | quārtus | fourth |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷeturtos | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷetwóres | four |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷe- | and |