Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A group or set of four; a foursome, a quartet.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: foursome, quadruplet, quadruplicity, quadrad, quaternion, quaternity, quartet, tetrad, tetraplet
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A group or set of four; a foursome, a quartet.
A group of four persons forming the Godhead, in contrast to the Trinity comprising three persons.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, historical, uncountable
Topics: Christianity
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: foursome, quadruplet, quadruplicity, quadrad, quaternion, quaternity, quartet, tetrad, tetraplet
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Synonym of quarter (“a fourth part”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete, rare, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: quarter
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Synonym of fourness (“the property or state of being four in number”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: fourness, quaternity
Antonyms: none provided
noun
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: four, 4, IV, tetrad, quatern, quaternion, quaternary, quartet, quadruplet, foursome, Little Joe
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: digit, figure
History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kwetwóresder. Latin quater Latin -nus Latin quaternus Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Late Latin quaternitāslbor. Old French quaternité Middle French quaternitélbor. ▲ Late Latin quaternitāslbor. English quaternity Learned borrowing from Middle French quaternité (“set of four things; (Christianity) dogma that there are four persons in the Godhead”), from Old French quaternité (modern French quaternité); and from their etymon Late Latin quaternitās (“set of four things; (Christianity) group of four persons in the Godhead”) (modelled after trīnitās (“triad; (Christianity) the Trinity”)) + English -ity (suffix forming abstract nouns). Quaternitās is derived from Latin quaternī + -tās (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting states of being); and quaternī is an inflection of quaternus (“four at a time; fourfold”), from quater (“four times”) (from Proto-Indo-European *kwetwóres (“four”)) + -nus (suffix forming distributive numerals). By surface analysis, quatern + -ity.
Across languages
6 source translations are retained for this English entry.
