Where does “quadrant” come from?
quadrant (Middle English) comes from Latin quadratum, from Latin quadrātus, from Latin quadrō, from Latin quādrus, from Latin quattŭor, from Portuguese quarto, from Old Portuguese quarto, from Latin quārtus — and.
Ancestry of “quadrant”, step by step
quadrant traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin quadratum
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | quadratum | a square, quadrate; nominative neuter singular of... |
| 2 | Latin | quadrātus | square, squared, having been made square, made into a square shape |
| 3 | Latin | quadrō | to make four-cornered, square, make square |
| 4 | Latin | quādrus | square |
| 5 | Latin | quattŭor | four; 4 |
| 6 | Portuguese | quarto | ordinal form of quatro; fourth; quarter; fourth;... |
| 7 | Old Portuguese | quarto | quarter |
| 8 | Latin | quārtus | fourth |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷeturtos | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷetwóres | four |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷe- | and |