quad

English Online Dictionary. What means quad‎? What does quad mean?

English

Etymology

Shortened, via clipping or abbreviation, from various English terms. Ultimately related to Latin quattuor (“4”); compare quadri-, quadruple.

The typography senses are from the abbreviation quad. for obsolete quadrat; the keyboard command comes from the verb sense.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kwɑd/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kwɒd/
• Rhymes: -ɒd

Noun

quad (plural quads)

1. (typography, obsolete) Abbreviation of quadrat. [18th to 19th century]
   2. (letterpress typography) A blank metal block used to fill short lines of type. [from 1780s]

      Synonyms: em space, (obsolete) quadrat
   3. (printing slang) A joke used to fill long days of setting type.
   4. (typography, phototypesetting and digital typesetting) A keyboard command which aligns text with the left or right margin, or centred between them. In combination, as quad left, quad right, or quad centre.
2. (informal) A quadrangle (quadrangular courtyard). [from 1780s]
3. (colloquial, dated) A horse, from colloquial or humorous quadruped specifically for horse. [from 1850s]
4. Something that is quadruple (four times) the usual amount, number, etc.
   1. A poster advertising a cinematic film release, measuring forty by thirty inches, four times the area of crown paper. [c. 1910]
   2. (skating) A quadruple, a jump with four revolutions in the air.
   3. A serving of four shots of espresso; (attributive) containing four shots of espresso.
   4. A skate with four wheels.
5. Clipping of quadruplet (“a set of four; one of a set of four”). [from 1890s]
   1. (electronics, telecommunications) A group of four insulated wires twisted together to form two circuits of two wires each. [from 1920s]
   2. (radio) A quad antenna, a directional radio antenna consisting of multiple loop antennas. [from 1930s]
   3. (informal) A quadruplet, one of four babies born during the same birth.
   4. (chess) A kind of round-robin tournament between four players, where each participant plays every other participant once.
   5. (Mormonism) The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price bound in a single volume.
   6. (poker slang, attributive) Of or relating to quads (four of a kind).
6. (informal) The quadriceps muscle. [from 1950s]
7. (informal) A quadriplegic person. [from 1970s]
8. A unit of energy equivalent to a quadrillion BTU (10¹⁵ BTU). [from 1970s]
9. (informal) A quadcopter.
10. (informal, computer graphics) A quadrilateral.
11. (informal) Quadruplex videotape.
12. (informal) A quadrupel beer.
13. A quad bike.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

quad (not comparable)

1. Quadruple, four times the usual size or quantity. [from 1880s]
2. (paper) Quadrille, marked with squares.

Derived terms

• quad paper

Verb

quad (third-person singular simple present quads, present participle quadding, simple past and past participle quadded)

1. (typography, letterpress typography, transitive, intransitive) To fill spaces in a line of type with quads. Also quad out.
2. (typography, phototypesetting and digital typesetting, transitive, intransitive) To align text with the left or right margin, or centre it.
3. (transitive) To twist four individually insulated conductors together as two pairs of twisted wires that are then twisted together.
4. (intransitive) To ride a quad bike.

See also

• quadr-, quadri-
• quadru-
• quin
• Quad (unit) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Basque

Etymology

From English quad.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kwad/ [kwað̞]
• Rhymes: -ad

Noun

quad inan

1. quad bike

Declension

Further reading

• "quad" in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], euskaltzaindia.eus

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian) [ˈkwat]

Noun

quad m (plural quads)

1. Clipping of quadricicle.

Dutch

Etymology

From English quad.

Pronunciation

Noun

quad m (plural quads, diminutive quadje n)

1. quad, quad bike

Italian

Noun

quad m (invariable)

1. quad bike

Old High German

Verb

quad

1. first/third-person singular past indicative of quedan

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English quad.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kwat/
• Rhymes: -at
• Syllabification: quad
• Homophone: kład

Noun

quad m inan

1. quad bike

   Synonyms: czterokołowiec, wszędołaz, kład

Declension

Further reading

• quad in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• quad in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Scots

Alternative forms

• quaid, queid
• quyed (dialectal)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English qued, from Old English cwēad.

Pronunciation

• (Early Scots) IPA^(key): [kwad]
• (Early Middle Scots) IPA^(key): [kwad]
• (Late Middle Scots) IPA^(key): [kwad]

Adjective

quad (comparative quader)

1. (Middle Scots) evil, wicked, bad

Usage notes

Only the comparative is attested.

Further reading

• “quad”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.

Spanish

Noun

quad f (plural quads)

1. all-terrain vehicle

Further reading

• “quad”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014