quartile

American  

[kwawr-tahyl, -til] / ˈkwɔr taɪl, -tɪl /

noun

1. Statistics.  (in a frequency distribution) one of the values of a variable that divides the distribution of the variable into four groups having equal frequencies.

2. Astrology.  a quartile aspect.

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adjective

1. Astrology.  of or relating to the aspect of two heavenly bodies when their longitudes differ by 90°.

quartile British  

/ ˈkwɔːtaɪl /

noun

1. statistics one of three actual or notional values of a variable dividing its distribution into four groups with equal frequencies

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adjective

1. statistics denoting or relating to a quartile

2. astrology denoting an aspect of two heavenly bodies when their longitudes differ by 90°

3. a quarter part of a distribution

Etymology

Origin of quartile

1500–10; < Medieval Latin quartīlis, equivalent to Latin quart ( us ) fourth + -īlis -ile

Example Sentences

For that least active quartile, a single one-hour walk could potentially return a benefit of around six additional hours of life.

From Science Daily

The study notes that there “continues to be wide variation in financial performance among hospitals, with the bottom quartile showing a net income margin of -5%, compared to +13% for the top quartile.”

From Los Angeles Times

"I would say Welsh is definitely in the upper quartile in terms of difficulty, so quite hard. At the same time, it's a beautiful language," he said.

From BBC

“It now sits comfortably in the top quartile of the most devastating bombing campaigns ever.”

From Seattle Times

Moving from the worst-performing quartile to the top on employee retention, for example, can save a company as much as $424 million a year in costs related to turnover, the authors estimate.

From Seattle Times