quarter
KWOR-ter · noun
Origin
Quarter comes from Middle English quarter, borrowed via Anglo-Norman quarter from Latin quartarius, itself from quartus, meaning 'fourth.' Spanish cuarto, meaning 'room' or 'quarters,' comes from the same root.
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Journey
The word has carried its 'fourth part' sense from Latin through Anglo-Norman into English.
Related words
Quarter is a doublet of quartier — the two words descend from the same source but arrived in English by different paths.
More words
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