Where does “quarter” come from?

Quarter comes from French quartier, derived from French quart, which is based on Latin -arius suffix added to Latin quattuor meaning four.

quarter (English): "A fourth part of something."; "Place or...

Definitions

  1. "A fourth part of something."; "Place or...

Ancestry of “quarter”, step by step

quarter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English quarter

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishquarterA quarter fourth part of something
2Anglo-Normanquarter—
3Latinquartariusquartarius, a Roman unit of liquid measure equivalent to about 0.14 L
4Latinquārtusfourth
5Proto-Indo-Europeankʷeturtos—
6Proto-Indo-Europeankʷetwóresfour
7Proto-Indo-Europeankʷe-and

via French cartayer

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchcartayer—

Words derived from “quarter”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European kʷe- →