quatre

Forms

quatre m or f^[1] Documents of 1436 and 1543 write cotra, an early record of the rustic pronunciation còtre of a northern zone of Eastern Catalan, which also says còrt for quart.^[2] In unstressed syllables the reduction of /wa/ to /o/ after /k/ is common to all dialects.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin quattuor (“four”).^[2][3][4][1]

The same Latin word is Old Occitan quatre, French quatre, Spanish cuatro, Italian quattro and Romanian patru.^[5][1]

The Latin word goes back to *kʷettwōr, from *kʷetwṓr, the neuter of *kʷetwóres (“four”); the /a/ of the first syllable, where /e/ would be expected, has no accepted explanation.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines and the GDLC date the first record to a document of 1211.^[2][4][6] The CICA corpus has one occurrence already in the second half of the 12th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The numeral has kept its meaning; the main extension is to “a few”, as in saying quatre paraules to someone.^[4][8] The expression més de quatre “quite a few” is recorded in Belvitges's dictionary of 1805, and a quatre peus “on all fours” in the Tirant.^[2] Mallorcan has posar-se de quatres “to go down on hands and feet” and córrer de quatres “to run very fast”.^[2]

Derivatives include quatreta, in the 16th and 17th centuries a board of four officials, and in Valencia a small loaf a quarter of the usual size.^[2] Bruguera groups with the numeral quadern (1460) and quaranta (14th century), which continue other Latin words of the family.^[6]

Timeline

• 1211 – first dated record, in a document.^[2][4]
• 1381 – Bernat Metge's Lo somni names los quatre doctors of the Church.^[9]
• 1436 – cotra perles, “four pearls”, in a document.^[2]
• 1805 – més de quatre in Belvitges's dictionary.^[2]

Meanings

Numeral

1. four, three plus one.^[8][4][1]
2. Fourth, in numbering: el capítol quatre.^[8][4]
3. A small, indefinite number; a few.^[8][4][1]

Noun

1. The number four, 4; a card or other thing marked with it.^[8][3]
2. les quatre: four o'clock.^[8]
3. (castells) A human tower with four people on each level.^[1]

Word family

• quatreta

Related words

• quart
• quadern
• quaranta
• Latin quattuor
• Spanish cuatro

Usage notes

De quatres means “very fast”.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 6, 899
3. ^ a b Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. quatre
4. ^ a b c d e f g Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. quatre
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6945
6. ^ a b Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 766
7. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. quatre
8. ^ a b c d e f g Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. quatre
9. ^ Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. quatre