Quart

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kwɔːt/

Definitions

1. A unit of liquid measurement equal to one-fourth of a gallon or approximately 0.95 liters
2. A unit of measurement for liquids, representing one-fourth of a gallon, or about 0.95 liters, commonly used in various recipes and container sizes
3. A measurement for liquids equivalent to one-fourth of a gallon or approximately 0.95 liters, often used in cooking and beverage servings

Etymology: The unit "quart" comes from a word meaning "fourth." Its Latin ancestor, "quartus," simply counted position, so a quart was once a literal fourth part of something. The measure descends through Old French, which gave Middle English "quarte" and "quart," and the word kept its link to the fraction: a quart is a fourth of a gallon, and the same root gives us "quarter" and the Spanish "cuarto," which means both a quarter and a room. A second, unrelated "quart" also exists in English, and the two are easy to confuse. That one comes from Old Norse "kyrt," the neuter form of an adjective meaning "quiet, still, peaceful," and it survives in Scots as "quert" or "quart," meaning sound or in good health. Its Germanic root is linked to the idea of heaviness, which is an unexpected path from heavy to calm.

Synonyms: liter, gallon