Quadrat

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkwɒd.ɹæt/

Definitions

1. A square or rectangular section of land or area marked for research or measurement purposes
2. A defined square plot used in fields like ecology or archaeology to represent a sample area
3. A measured square space employed in scientific studies to analyze or survey a particular location

Etymology: In printing, a quadrat is a blank block of metal, cast slightly lower than the letters, used to fill out spaces within a line or between words. The basic version is the em quadrat, a square whose width equals the height of a line of type, so it is the printer's standard unit of space. The name comes straight from Latin "quadrātum," meaning "squared," and the word has been recorded in English since 1683. Its closest relatives are "quadrate" and "quadrant," which share the same Latin source, and the two were once used interchangeably in some technical senses. The printing sense is the one that survives, and it explains the word's current meaning: a square study area in ecology, the frame or plot that a researcher marks out and counts within. The same geometric idea of a square unit carries over from the composing room to the field.

Synonyms: square, block, quadrant, geometric shape, section