quart French · revision 16912

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la quattuor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kaʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''quart''' (feminine quarte, masculine plural quarts, feminine plural quartes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|quārtus|t=fourth]], from [[m|la|quattuor|t=four]] (see [[quatre]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) Rey treats the adjective as borrowed, and the noun either as the adjective used as a noun or as a direct borrowing of the neuter [[m|la|quārtum]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) In the Middle Ages it was the ordinal of “quatre”; from the 14th century it gave way to [[quatrième]], and by the end of the 16th century it survived only in set phrases.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|quarto]], [[es|cuarto]], [[pt|quarto]] and [[oc|quart]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has the adjective “fourth”: ''la terce, la quarte, la quinte'' (the third, fourth and fifth divisions).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) Chrétien de Troyes uses the noun for a quarter of a whole in ''Erec et Enide'' (about 1170).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjective lived on in ''fièvre quarte'' “quartan fever” (1225–1230, Guillaume de Lorris), in Rabelais's ''Quart Livre'', in hunters' ''quart an'', a boar's fourth year (1180), and in ''se moquer du tiers et du quart'';^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) ''quart-monde'' (1965) was formed after ''tiers-monde''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ The noun has many special uses.^(DHLF 1992) ''Un quart d'heure'' is in the ''Farce de Maître Pathelin'' (1464), and ''le quart d'heure de Rabelais'', the unpleasant moment of paying the bill, after a probably false story about Rabelais (1712).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) At sea the ''quart'' was a watch, originally a quarter of the day (1529), whence ''être au quart'' (early 17th century) and ''officier de quart'' (1803).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) A quarter of a litre is recorded in 1831 and the soldier's metal cup in 1904;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''un quart de beurre'', a quarter of a pound, is from the 20th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Partir au quart de tour'', first of an engine that starts at the first turn of the crank (1927), is figurative from 1953.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Quarte'' “fourth”, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – “A quarter”, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1225–1230 – ''Fievres quartes'', in Guillaume de Lorris.^(TLFi)

+ * 1464 – ''Ung quart d'heure'', in ''Maître Pathelin''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1529 – A watch at sea.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1666 – ''Les trois quarts'' “the greater part”, in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1712 – ''Le quart d'heure de Rabelais''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1831 – A quarter of a litre, in Eugène Sue.^(TLFi)

+ * 1927 – ''Partir au quart de tour'', of an engine.^(TLFi)

+ * 1965 – ''Quart-monde''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|quarter]], a fourth part: ''le quart de la circonférence'', ''les trois quarts du temps'', most of the time.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Quart d'heure'': a quarter of an hour, ''deux heures et quart'', ''moins le quart''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A quarter of a litre; a soldier's metal [[m|en|cup]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(nautical)'' A [[m|en|watch]]: ''être de quart''; a shift of work.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(music)'' ''Quart de soupir'', ''quart de ton'': a semiquaver rest, a quarter tone.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Au quart de tour'': at the first attempt, immediately.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(archaic)'' [[m|en|fourth|alt=Fourth]]: ''le Quart Livre'', ''fièvre quarte'', quartan fever.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[quarteron]]

+ * [[quartier]]

+ * [[quartanier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quatre]]

+ * [[quatuor]]

+ * [[quatrième]]

+ * [[la|quārtus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}