*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of quart

From Middle English quart, quarte, from Old French quarte, carte, from Latin quartus (“one-fourth”). Cognate with Spanish cuarto (“quarter; room, quarters”).

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A unit of liquid capacity equal to two pints; one-fourth (quarter) of a gallon. Equivalent to 1.136 liters in the UK and 0.946 liter (liquid quart) or 1.101 liters (dry quart) in the U.S. · Four successive cards of the same suit. · A fourth; a quarter; hence, a region of the earth. · The fourth defensive position; quarte.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English quart, quarte, from Old French quarte, carte, from Latin quartus (“one-fourth”). Cognate with Spanish cuarto (“quarter; room, quarters”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionquartenm
  • Derivation mentionquartefro
  • Derivation mentionquartusla · one-fourth
  • Cognate mentioncuartoes
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

Safety, soundness; health.

adj

Safe, sound; healthy.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English quarte, querte, from Old Norse kyrt, *kvirt, neuter of Old Norse kyrr, kvirr (“quiet, still, peaceful”), from Proto-Germanic *kwerruz (“calm, satisfied, pacified”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₂- (“heavy”). Cognate with Scots quert, quart (“alive, in good health, sound”), Scots querty (“vivacious, active, in good spirits”), Danish kvær (“quiet”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvar, kvær, kverr (“still, quiet”), Icelandic kyrr (“still, calm, unmoving”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionquarteenm
  • Derivation mentionkyrtnon
  • Derivation mentionkyrrnon
  • Derivation mention*kwerruzgem-pro · calm, satisfied, pacified
  • Derivation mention*gʷerh₂-ine-pro · heavy
  • Cognate mentionquertsco
  • Cognate mentionquertysco · vivacious, active, in good spirits
  • Cognate mentionkværda · quiet
  • Cognate mentionkvarnn
  • Cognate mentionkyrris · still, calm, unmoving
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
adj

Transverse. · Contentious or quarrelsome.

verb

To thwart.

adv

Crosswise; across.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Dialectal alteration of thwart.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for quart →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cXVhcnQ