different between quirt vs quart

English

Etymology

From Spanish cuerda (“cord”), or Mexican Spanish cuarta (“whip”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kw??t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kw?t/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t

Noun

quirt (plural quirts)

1. A rawhide whip plaited with two thongs of buffalo hide.
   • about 1900, O. Henry, Hygeia at the Solito

     He sprang into the saddle easily as a bird, got the quirt from the horn, and gave his pony a slash with it.

   • He paused a moment and flicked a sage-brush with his quirt.

   • 1920, Peter B. Kyne, The Understanding Heart, Chapter I:

     […] when the young man whirled his horse, “hazed” Jupiter in circles and belaboured him with a rawhide quirt, […] He ceased his cavortings […]

   • 1973, Kyril Bonfiglioli, Don't Point That Thing at Me, Penguin (2001), page 96:

     She raised the handle of her beautiful quirt to her eyes and scanned the Western horizon.

   • 1994, Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing:

     He rode his horse with the reins tied and he wore a pistol at his belt and a plain flatcrowned hat of a type no longer much seen in that country and he wore tooled boots to his knees and carried a quirt.

Translations

Verb

quirt (third-person singular simple present quirts, present participle quirting, simple past and past participle quirted)

1. To strike with a quirt.

Synonyms

• (to whip or scourge): Thesaurus:whip

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kw??t/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kw??t/, /k??t/
• Rhymes: -??(r)t

Noun

quart (plural quarts)

1. 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.
2. (card games) Four successive cards of the same suit.
3. (obsolete) A fourth; a quarter; hence, a region of the earth.

Translations

See also

• you can't get a quart into a pint pot

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin quartus (“fourth”).

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?kwa?t/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?kwart/

Adjective

quart (feminine quarta, masculine plural quarts, feminine plural quartes)

1. fourth

Usage notes

When quart is the ordinal number of a century or of a regnal name of a monarch or pope, it is written using Roman numerals following the noun. Thus Joan Quart is written Joan IV.

For most fractional numbers, the ordinal number is used to indicate the denominator of the fraction. Quart and its forms share the job of indicating fractional fourths with quarter and its forms. Exceptions to this rule include mig (“half”), terç (“third”), quarter (“quarter”), milionèsim (“millionth”), bilionèsim (“billionth”), ....

The feminine form of the ordinal is usually used as the collective noun for a set of like objects of that size. Instead of quart, qüern is used. Exceptions to the usual rule include parell (“set of 2”), qüern (“set of 4”), centenar (“set of 100”), grossa (“set of 144”), miler (“set of 1000”), and milenar (“1000”).

Synonyms

• (fraction): quarter

Derived terms

• quart creixent (waxing quarter moon):
• quart minvant (waning quarter moon):
• quart de rodó (quarter round molding):

Noun

quart m (plural quarts)

1. quarter hour
2. A political subdivision of the parishes La Massana, Ordino, and Sant Julià de Lòria in Andorra.
3. (obsolete) barrel; unit of liquid measure equal to one-quarter of a pipe
4. (paper) quarto; paper size
5. (printing) quarto; book size
6. (castells) a casteller on the fourth level of a castell

Further reading

• “quart” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

From Latin qu?rtus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka?/
• Homophones: car, quarts
• Rhymes: -a?

Adjective

quart (feminine singular quarte, masculine plural quarts, feminine plural quartes)

1. (dated) fourth

Derived terms

• quart-monde

Noun

quart m (plural quarts)

1. quarter (fraction)
2. (Quebec) shift (period of work)

Derived terms

Related terms

• quatre
• quatuor

Further reading

• “quart” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Adjective

quart m (feminine singular quarte, masculine plural quarts, feminine plural quartes)

1. fourth

Synonyms

• quatriesme

Norman

Etymology 1

From Old French quart, from Latin quartus.

Noun

quart m (plural quarts)

1. (Guernsey) quarter (fraction)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Noun

quart m (plural quarts)

1. (Jersey) watch

Old French

Adjective

quart m (oblique and nominative feminine singular quarte)

1. fourth

Noun

quart m (oblique plural quarz or quartz, nominative singular quarz or quartz, nominative plural quart)

1. quarter (1/4)
2. fourth (the ordinal position corresponding to four)