Where does “quadrant” come from?
Quadrant comes from Latin quadrantem, the accusative of quadrans, meaning one-quarter, derived from quattuor meaning four, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kauput-.
quadrant (English): One of the four sections made by dividing an area...
Definitions
- One of the four sections made by dividing an area...
Ancestry of “quadrant”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | quadrant | — |
| 2 | Latin | quadratum | a square, quadrate; nominative neuter singular of... |
| 3 | Latin | quadrātus | square, squared, having been made square, made into a square shape |
| 4 | Latin | quadrō | to make four-cornered, square, make square |
| 5 | Latin | quādrus | square |
| 6 | Latin | quattŭor | four; 4 |
| 7 | Portuguese | quarto | ordinal form of quatro; fourth; quarter; fourth;... |
| 8 | Old Portuguese | quarto | quarter |
| 9 | Latin | quārtus | fourth |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷeturtos | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷetwóres | four |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷe- | and |