different between town vs quarter

English

Alternative forms

• tahn, tawn (Bermuda),
• toune, towne (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English town, toun, from Old English t?n (“enclosure, garden”), from Proto-Germanic *t?n? (“fence”) (compare West Frisian tún, Dutch tuin (“garden”), German Zaun, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian tun), from Gaulish d?nom (“hill, hillfort”), from Proto-Celtic *d?nom (compare archaic Welsh din (“hill”), Irish dún (“fortress”)), from Proto-Indo-European *dewh?- (“to finish, come full circle”). Doublet of dun. See also -ton and tine (“to enclose”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ta?n/, [t?a??n]
• Rhymes: -a?n

Noun

town (countable and uncountable, plural towns)

1. A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city.
2. Any more urbanized center than the place of reference.
3. (Britain, historical) A rural settlement in which a market was held at least once a week.
4. The residents (as opposed to gown: the students, faculty, etc.) of a community which is the site of a university.
5. (colloquial) Used to refer to a town or similar entity under discussion.
6. (humorous, ironic) A major city, especially one where the speaker is located.
7. (law) A municipal organization, such as a corporation, defined by the laws of the entity of which it is a part.
8. (obsolete) An enclosure which surrounded the mere homestead or dwelling of the lord of the manor.
9. (obsolete) The whole of the land which constituted the domain.
10. (obsolete) A collection of houses enclosed by fences or walls.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Palsgrave to this entry?)

11. (Britain, Scotland, dialect, obsolete) A farm or farmstead; also, a court or farmyard.

Usage notes

• An urban city is typically larger than a rural town, which in turn is typically larger than a village. In rural areas, a town may be considered urban. In urban areas, a town can be considered suburban; a village in the suburbs. The distinctions are fluid and dependent on subjective perception.

Hypernyms

• settlement

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ??? (taun)

Translations

See also

• urban
• suburban
• rural

Anagrams

• nowt, wo'n't, won't, wont

Middle English

Noun

town

1. Alternative form of toun

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k(w)??t?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k(w)??.t?/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /?ko?.t?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t?(?)

Etymology 1

From Middle English quarter, from Anglo-Norman quarter, from Latin quartarius, from quartus. Compare Spanish cuarto (“room, quarters; quarter”). Doublet of quartier.

Noun

quarter (countable and uncountable, plural quarters)

1. A fourth part of something.
   1. (in general sense) Each of four equal parts into which something can be divided; a fourth part. [from 14th c.]

      A quarter of an hour.

   2. (now chiefly historical) A measure of capacity used chiefly for grain or coal, varying greatly in quantity by time and location. [from 13th c.]
   3. A fourth part of a pound; approximately 113 grams. [from 14th c.]
   4. (historical) A measure of length; originally a fourth part of an ell, now chiefly a fourth part of a yard. [from 14th c.]
   5. (now historical) A fourth part of the night; one of the watches or divisions of the night. [from 14th c.]
      • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark 6:48

        And aboute the fourth quartre of the nyght, he cam unto them, walkinge apon the see [...].

   6. (now chiefly financial) A fourth part of the year; 3 months; a term or season. [from 14th c.]
   7. A fourth part of an hour; a period of fifteen minutes, especially with reference to the quarter before or after the hour. [from 15th c.]
   8. (now chiefly historical) A fourth part of a hundredweight. [from 15th c.]
   9. (heraldry) A fourth part of a coat of arms, or the charge on it, larger than a canton and normally on the upper dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top meeting a horizontal line from the side. [from 15th c.]
   10. (Canada, US) A quarter-dollar, divided into 25 cents; the coin of that value minted in the United States or Canada. [from 18th c.]
   11. (sports) One of four equal periods into which a game is divided. [from 19th c.]
   12. (Chester, historical) A quarter of an acre or 40 roods.
2. Place or position.
   1. A region or place. [from 13th c.]
      • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:

        I am to haste, / And all who under me thir Banners wave, / Homeward with flying march where we possess / The Quarters of the North […] .

   2. Each of four parts into which the earth or sky is divided, corresponding to the four cardinal points of the compass. [from 14th c.]
   3. A division or section of a town or city, especially having a particular character of its own, or associated with a particular group etc. [from 16th c.]
   4. One's residence or dwelling-place; (in plural) rooms, lodgings, especially as allocated to soldiers or domestic staff. [from 16th c.]
   5. (obsolete) Relations between people. [17th c.]
      • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Cunning

        I knew two that were competitors for the secretary's place, […] and yet kept good quarter between themselves.

   6. Accommodation given to a defeated opponent; mercy; exemption from being killed. [from 17th c.]
3. Technical or specialized senses.
   1. (farriery) The part on either side of a horse's hoof between the toe and heel, the side of its coffin. [from 16th c.]
   2. (nautical) The aftmost part of a vessel's side, roughly from the last mast to the stern. [from 16th c.]
      • 1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 80:

        I was one morning walking the deck, when Rogers, whose watch it was, sitting upon the quarter, called to me in his usual style, ‘Come here, Bill.’
4. Short forms.
   1. (now rare, rugby, American football) A quarterback. [from 19th c.]
   2. (military slang, now rare) A quartermaster; a quartermaster sergeant. [from 20th c.]
   3. A quarterfinal. [from 20th c.]

Synonyms

• (one of four equal parts): fourth, fourth part, ¼
• (period of three consecutive months): trimester, cour
• (section of a town): district; ward; neighborhood; ghetto (pejorative); borough (New York City); capitoulate (Toulouse, historical)

Derived terms

Related terms

• quart

Translations

References

Adjective

quarter (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to an aspect of a quarter.
2. (chiefly) Consisting of a fourth part, a quarter (¹?₄, 25%).

3. (chiefly) Related to a three-month term, a quarter of a year.

Antonyms

• quadruple

Usage notes

Often used in a combining form quarter-.

Derived terms

Verb

quarter (third-person singular simple present quarters, present participle quartering, simple past and past participle quartered)

1. (transitive) To divide into quarters; to divide by four.
2. (transitive) To provide housing for military personnel or other equipment.

3. (intransitive) To lodge; to have a temporary residence.
4. (transitive) To quartersaw.

Synonyms

• (to have a temporary residence): stay over, stop; See also Thesaurus:sojourn

Antonyms

• quadruple (multiply by four)

Translations

See also

• draw and quarter

References

Adjective

• "quarter" at Merriam-Webster
• "quarter" in Harrap's Shorter, 2006, p. 761

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French cartayer.

Verb

quarter (third-person singular simple present quarters, present participle quartering, simple past and past participle quartered)

1. (obsolete) To drive a carriage so as to prevent the wheels from going into the ruts, or so that a rut shall be between the wheels.

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin quartus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /kw???te/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /kw?r?te/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /kwa??te?/

Noun

quarter m (plural quarters)

1. fourth
2. quarter

Synonyms

• quart

Derived terms

• esquarterar

Further reading

• “quarter” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “quarter” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “quarter” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “quarter” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kwa?.t??/

Noun

quarter m (plural quarters)

1. quarter (old measure of corn)

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• traquer

Middle English

Alternative forms

• quartre, quartier, wharter, quatere, quatter

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman quarter.

Noun

quarter (plural quarters)

1. quarter

Descendants

• English: quarter
• Yola: curthere, cortere

References

• “quart???r(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old French

Alternative forms

• quartier (chiefly mainland Europe)

Noun

quarter m (oblique plural quarters, nominative singular quarters, nominative plural quarter)

1. (chiefly Anglo-Norman) quarter (one fourth)

References

• quarter on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (quartier, supplement)