quadrant
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Ptolemy using a quadrant (4)
See also: Quadrant
English
Alternative forms
- quadraunt (obsolete)
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kwŏdʹrənt, IPA(key): /ˈkwɒd.ɹənt/
- (General American) enPR: kwŏdʹrənt, IPA(key): /ˈkwɑd.ɹənt/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Etymology 1
From Middle English quadrant, from Old French cadran, quadrant and its etymon Latin quadrāns, -antis (“fourth part of something, quarter”). Doublet of quadrans.
Noun
quadrant (plural quadrants)
- One of the four sections made by dividing an area with two perpendicular lines.
- 2007, Xavier: Renegade Angel, season 1, episode 4, spoken by Xavier (Vernon Chatman):
- Kids, I swear, I'm gonna love all of you, and equally. I'll be dividing my love into seven equal sections, or "Love Quadrants". Each quadrant will be worth 15 "Love Units" represented by these small brass marbles. You may use these marbles as currency amongst yourselves. Collect 35 "Love Units", you can trade those in for a beach towel with my face on it.
- (mathematics) One of the four regions of the Cartesian plane bounded by the x-axis and y-axis.
- (geometry) One fourth of a circle or disc; a sector with an angle of 90°.
- (nautical) A measuring device with a graduated arc of 90° used in locating an altitude.
- (college basketball) One of the four categories of team wins and losses, as categorized by strength of schedule.
Derived terms
Translations
section
|
region of the Cartesian plane
|
fourth of a circle
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measuring device
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See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English quadrant, quadrante, from Latin quadrātum; form influenced by Etymology 1. Doublet of quadrat and quadrate.
Noun
quadrant (plural quadrants)
- (obsolete) A square or quadrangle.
- 1852, Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland and English Princesses, page 52:
- There is an outcourt or quadrant, whereof one side is a gallery to walk in, being in length six hundred feet.
References
- ^ “quā̆drant, n.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- ^ “quā̆drant, n.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Catalan
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Latin quadrantem (“fourth part of something, quarter”).
Pronunciation
Noun
quadrant m (plural quadrants)
Further reading
- “quadrant”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies , April 2007
- “quadrant”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
- “quadrant” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “quadrant” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Etymology 2
Verb
quadrant
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin quadrantem (“fourth part of something, quarter”).
Pronunciation
Noun
quadrant m (plural quadrants)
Further reading
- “quadrant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
Latin
Verb
quadrant