Quarter

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈk(w)ɔː.tə/

Definitions

1. A period of three months, one-fourth of a year, or a coin worth 25 cents
2. A division of a whole into four equal parts, a specific time frame of three months, or a currency denomination equal to twenty-five cents
3. An equal part derived by dividing an entity into four sections, a segment of a calendar year lasting three months, or a monetary unit valued at 25 cents

Etymology: The word "quarter" descends from Latin "quartus," meaning "fourth," and its Latin derivative "quartarius" referred to a fourth part of a measure. That sense of simply "one of four parts" is the root of nearly every meaning English later built on it: a quarter of a year, a quarter of a town, a quarter of a dollar. Through Middle English and Anglo-Norman, the word carried the idea of division into four, which is why the same word can name a coin, a season of the calendar, and a district of a city. The noun also has a close relative in "quartier," which English borrowed from French and which is a doublet of "quarter." The two forms split apart as they passed through different languages, yet both keep the same numerical idea at their core. Spanish "cuarto," which means "room" or "quarters" as well as "quarter," shows the same root taking on a sense of a dwelling or lodging, a fourth part of a house or a section of living space. Another route entered English from French "cartayer," which carried the same numerical meaning and shows how widely the Latin "fourth" spread through European vocabularies.

Synonyms: fourth, portion, segment, section, dividend

Antonyms: whole, entirety, total, sum, aggregate