quaternary
See also: Quaternary
English
WOTD – 7 April 2006
| ← 3 | 4 | 5 → [a], [b] |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal: four Ordinal: fourth Latinate ordinal: quartary, quaternary Reverse order ordinal: fourth to last, fourth from last, last but three Latinate reverse order ordinal: preantepenultimate Adverbial: four times Multiplier: fourfold Latinate multiplier: quadruple Distributive: quadruply Group collective: foursome Multipart collective: quadruplet Greek or Latinate collective: tetrad Greek collective prefix: tetra-, tessera- Latinate collective prefix: quadri- Fractional: quarter, fourth Latinate fractional prefix: quadrant- Elemental: quadruplet Greek prefix: tetarto- Number of musicians: quartet Number of years: quadrennium, olympiad | ||
Etymology
Derived from Latin quaternārius (“containing or consisting of four”), from quaternī (“four each”, “four at a time”) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French quaternaire.
Pronunciation
Adjective
quaternary (not comparable)
- Of fourth rank or order.
- the quaternary stress in a pronounced word
- Of a mathematical expression containing e.g. x4.
- Relating to or in number base four.
- (organic chemistry) quaternary ammonium.
- (inorganic chemistry) Composed of four elements.
Usage notes
The fourth ordinal from Latin that might etymologically follow tertiary is quartary, but quaternary (from the distributive number instead) is more usual in English.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
of fourth rank or order
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See also
Noun
quaternary (plural quaternaries)
- (chemistry) A quaternary compound.
- (geology) The Quaternary period or the system of deposits laid down during it.
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