Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Quarter in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels quarter as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Quarter

[F. quartier, L. quartarius a fourth part, fr. quartus the fourth. See Quart.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordquarter
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[F. quartier, L. quartarius a fourth part, fr. quartus the fourth. See Quart.]
Selected historical definitionOne of four equal parts into which anything is divided, or is regarded as divided; a fourth part or portion; as, a quarter of a dollar, of a pound, of a yard, of an hour, etc.
Signed record IDwebster1913-quarter-noun-b597156cc8e8
Source locatorCIDE.Q, paragraph 393; Gutenberg eBook 666
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 666Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "quarter" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F. quartier, L. quartarius a fourth part, fr. quartus the fourth. See Quart.]" The selected historical definition says: "One of four equal parts into which anything is divided, or is regarded as divided; a fourth part or portion; as, a quarter of a dollar, of a pound, of a yard, of an hour, etc."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

More released Q records

Every card owns a different source record and historical sense.

noun

Question

[F., fr. L. quaestio, fr. quaerere, quaesitum, to seek for, ask, inquire. See Quest, n.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Quiet

[L. quietus, p. p. pf quiescere to rest, keep quiet; akin to quies rest, and prob. to E. while, n. See While, and cf. Coy, a., Quiesce, Quietus, Quit, a., Quite, Requiem.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Quit

[OE. quite, OF. quite, F. quitte. See Quit, v., Quiet.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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