Etymologically
Log in

quadrans

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 13:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkʷa.drãːs], [ˈkʷad.rãːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷaː.drans][1]

Forms

quadrāns m (genitive quadrantis); third declension[1]

Etymology

Used as a noun, it is the present participle from Latin quadrō (“to make square”).[2][3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of quattuor (“four”),[4] and Etymonline traces that numeral to Proto-Indo-European *kwetwer- (“four”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and the OLD find it first in Lucilius, as the name of a coin worth a quarter of an as;[4][2] Köbler's earliest source is Cato.[5]

Semantic evolution

As the smallest coin in common use it became a byword for something of very little value, a farthing: Horace writes of a man dying poorer by a single quadrāns.[2][6] Vitruvius uses it of Greek coins worth a quarter of an obol.[2] It is also a unit of measure: a quarter of a Roman pound in Columella, a quarter of a sextārius in Varro, a quarter of a iūgerum of land in Livy, and a quarter of a digit as a length.[2] More generally it is a fourth part of anything:[2][6] Velleius writes of a law that ordered a quarter of their debts to be paid to creditors, and hērēs ex quadrante is an heir to a quarter of an estate.[2][6] In medieval Latin it is a quarter of a mansus, a measure of land, and a quarter of a loaf of bread.[7] English quadrant was borrowed from it through Old French, first for a quarter of a day.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius names the coin.[2][4][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it as a liquid measure.[2][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it for a trifling sum.[2][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it as a weight.[2][5]
  • late 14th century – English quadrant is recorded, at first for a quarter of a day.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A coin worth a quarter of an as.[2][6]
  2. (as a token of the smallest value) A farthing.[2][8]
  3. (with a genitive) A coin worth a quarter (of another coin).[2]
  4. (as a weight) A quarter of a Roman pound.[2]
  5. (as a liquid measure) A quarter of a sextārius.[2]
  6. (of land) A quarter of a iūgerum;[2] (of length) a quarter of a digit.[2]
  7. A fourth part, quarter (of any quantity); hērēs ex quadrante, heir to a quarter of an estate.[2][6]
  8. (Medieval Latin) A quarter of a mansus; a measure of land; a quarter of a loaf.[7]

Word family

  • quadrantal
  • quadrantālis
  • quadrantārius

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson