quadrato

Forms

quadrato (feminine quadrata, masculine plural quadrati, feminine plural quadrate)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin quadrātus (“square”) for the adjective and its neuter noun quadrātum for the noun.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Latin word is the past participle of quadrō (“to make square”), from quadrus (“square”), and so from quattuor (“four”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres.^[2][1][6] The Italian adjective is in use also as the past participle of quadrare.^[7][8][3]

Spanish cuadrado and Portuguese quadrado are the same word, while French carré is its inherited outcome; Old Occitan cairat and Catalan cairat (“beam”) belong here too.^[2][9] The inherited outcome survives in Tuscan place names: ⟨Quarrata⟩, recorded from 807, from a “square” piece of land, and ⟨Quaracchi⟩, from a diminutive recorded as ⟨Quaraclae⟩ in 1103, both tied to the Roman division of land.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first dated sense of the adjective is “solid, sturdy”, in Latini, before 1294; the sense “square in shape” is in the Giostra delle virtù e dei vizi of the 13th or 14th century.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a square in geometry, is dated by GRADIT to the 14th century;^[3][11][5] DELI's first record is in an Italian translation of Fibonacci of the first half of the 15th century, which also has “the second power of a number”.^[3][11][5] DEI records old military senses, an army drawn up on four sides (Latin quadratum agmen), and names of muscles of the 14th century.^[10]

On ships the quadrato became the officers' wardroom (1866), from the square stern of old ships.^[11][10] The infantry square against cavalry is recorded in Algarotti before 1764.^[11] The phrase fare quadrato “to close ranks” comes from it.^[8] The figurative adjective “sensible, level-headed” is in Caro before 1566.^[11] In boxing the word was used for the ring by 1935, in place of the English word.^[11][10]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Latini uses quadrato “solid, sturdy”.^[11]
• 13th–14th century – The Giostra delle virtù e dei vizi uses it for a square shape.^[11]
• First half of the 15th century – A translation of Fibonacci uses the noun for the geometric square and the second power.^[11]
• Before 1566 – Caro uses the adjective for a level-headed person.^[11]
• Before 1764 – Algarotti uses the noun for the infantry square.^[11]
• 1866 – Parrilli records the naval wardroom sense.^[11]
• 1935 – The word is used for the boxing ring.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. square, shaped like a geometric square: un cortile quadrato.^[3][4][7]
2. Of a face, angular, with a broad chin and strong jaw.^[3][4]
3. (figurative) Sturdy, solid: un uomo dalle spalle quadrate.^[3][4][8]
4. (figurative) Sensible, level-headed: una ragazza seria e quadrata.^[3][4][7][1]
5. (mathematics) Of a unit of area, equal to a square of the unit of length: metro quadrato.^[3][7][8]
6. (anatomy) Of a muscle or bone, flat and four-sided.^[3][4][7]
7. Of capital script, with right angles.^[3]

Noun

1. (geometry) A square, a plane figure with four equal sides and four equal angles.^[3][4][7]
2. Anything square in shape: un quadrato di tela.^[3][4]
3. (mathematics) The second power of a number: il quadrato di 5.^[3][4][7]
4. An arrangement of people or things in a square.^[3][4]
5. (military, historical) A square formation of troops able to resist attack from every side.^[3][4][8]
6. (boxing) The ring; in volleyball, each half of the court.^[3][7][12]
7. (nautical) On warships, the officers' mess and recreation room, the wardroom.^[3][7]
8. (printing) A blank spacing piece.^[7]

Word family

• quadratura
• quadratico
• quadratamente
• quadratino

Related words

• quadrare
• quadro
• squadra
• Latin quadrātus
• French carré

Usage notes

Fare quadrato means “to close ranks against an opponent”, and al quadrato “squared”, also figuratively “to the highest degree”.^[4][8][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3164
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli