Etymograph

English

quadrans

Quadrans comes from Latin quadrāns ‘a fourth part of something, quarter, farthing’, from quattuor ‘four’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷetwṓr1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷettwōr1‘four’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquattuor2‘four’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquadrāns3‘a fourth part of something, quarter, farthing’
  5. Englishtodayquadrans3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin quattuor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin quadrans
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English quadrans

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷetwṓrWiktionary, Latin quattuorreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷettwōrWiktionary, Latin quattuor‘four’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquattuorWiktionary, Latin quadrans‘four’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquadrānsWiktionary, English quadrans‘a fourth part of something, quarter, farthing’
  5. EnglishtodayquadransWiktionary, English quadrans

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr

four, 30 more

through Proto-Italic *kʷettwōr ‘four’

squadron, 28 more

through Latin quattuor ‘four’

square, squad, cater, quarry, cadre, quatre, cuatro, quatrain, 29 more

Today it means

noun A bronze coin of the Roman republic worth one quarter of an as.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quadrans”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin quattuor, Latin quadrans. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr / quadrans

Shirt and support for this word