Etymograph

English

quartan

Quartan comes from Latin quartānus ‘recurring every four days’, and goes back to quartus ‘fourth’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquartus1‘fourth’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquartānus1‘recurring every four days’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquartāna1
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400quartaine1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1621quartan1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English quartan
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1621, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: “Pork, of all meats, is[…]naught for queasy stomachs, insomuch…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquartusWiktionary, English quartan‘fourth’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquartānusWiktionary, English quartan‘recurring every four days’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquartānaWiktionary, English quartan
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400quartaineWiktionary, English quartan
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1621quartanWiktionary, English quartan. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1621, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: “Pork, of all meats, is[…]naught for queasy stomachs, insomuch…”

Every English word from Latin quartus

Today it means

noun A fever whose symptoms recur every four days.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quartan”. 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 / Latin quartus / quartan

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