Quadrant

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkwɒd.ɹənt/

Definitions

1. One of four equal sections created when dividing a plane, area, or circle by two perpendicular lines intersecting at a central point
2. A region formed by dividing a two-dimensional space into four parts through the intersection of two lines at right angles
3. An area generated when a plane or circular shape is split into four sections by crossing lines at a central junction

Etymology: The word has two separate ancestors that ended up as one English noun. The first is Latin "quadrāns", meaning a fourth part or quarter, which passed through Old French "cadran" into Middle English. Its sense of a fourth part is still visible in the modern meaning of one of four sections, such as a quarter of a circle or a quarter of a city. The Latin root "quattuor", meaning four, is the common thread. The second ancestor is Latin "quadrātum", a squared figure, which came into Middle English as "quadrant" or "quadrante". This line is the source of the word's sense as a flat, square-shaped instrument, and it sits alongside the first in English. Because the two forms ran together, the noun carries both the idea of a fraction and the idea of a square, and English speakers now use it for either.

Synonyms: section, segment, part, division, quarter