quarte

Forms

quarte f (plural quartes)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French quart: the feminine of the old ordinal “fourth”, used as a noun.^[2][3][4] The adjective goes back to Latin quartus (“fourth”), from quattuor (“four”).^[3][5] The Petit Robert takes the old measure from Medieval Latin quarta.^[6]

The sense in music was taken from Italian quarta, the feminine of quarto (“fourth”), recorded as a music term in Italian from 1553.^[2][3][7] The GLLF also gives the Italian origin only for the musical sense.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1233, in a cartulary of Saint-Vincent, as a measure of capacity.^[2][8] Littré quotes a 13th-century rule granting each lay brother and sister une quarte de vin a day.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle French a quarte was a measure of two pints, mainly for liquids;^[3][8][7] Littré also quotes huile vendue par quartes and a 14th-century gilt vessel called a quarte.^[5] The adjective quart itself gave way to quatrième between the 14th and 17th centuries, but kept its feminine in fièvre quarte (about 1240).^[3]

The modern senses date from the 16th and 17th centuries.^[3] In music it is the interval of four degrees, from 1588 according to the TLFi, from 1611 according to Rey and Bloch and Wartburg.^[2][3][7] In fencing it became the fourth of the classic guard and parry positions, in the high inside line, in the middle of the 17th century,^[3][6][2] and in card games, about 1680, a run of four cards of the same suit.^[2][3][6] Quarte juste is recorded from 1767 (Rousseau), quarte diminuée and quarte augmentée from 1869 (Littré).^[8]

Timeline

• 1233 – A measure of capacity, in the cartulary of Saint-Vincent.^[2][8]
• 1553 – Italian quarta is recorded as a music term.^[2]
• 1588 – Thoinot Arbeau's Orchésographie uses it in music.^[2][6]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the musical sense.^[8][7]
• 1659 – Scarron uses it in fencing.^[2]
• 1680 – Richelet records the sense in card games.^[2][8]
• 1767 – Rousseau writes quarte juste.^[8]
• 1869 – Quarte diminuée and quarte augmentée.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (music) A fourth, the interval of four degrees of the diatonic scale, as from C to F: quarte juste (two tones and a semitone), quarte augmentée (three tones, the triton), quarte diminuée.^[6][9][8]
2. (fencing) The fourth of the classic positions of attack and parry, in the high inside line: parer en quarte.^[6][2]
3. (card games, dated) A run of four cards of the same suit, also called a quatrième: quarte majeure, ace, king, queen and jack.^[6][2][9]
4. (historical) An old measure of capacity worth two pints.^[6][9][8]

Related words

• quart
• quatrième
• quartaut
• Latin quartus

Usage notes

The feminine adjective survives in fièvre quarte, an old name for a fever recurring every fourth day.^[3][6] Littré also records quarte as an old term of mathematics and astronomy, a sixtieth part of a tierce.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)