quadrant
Americannoun
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a quarter of a circle; an arc of 90°.
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the area included between such an arc and two radii drawn one to each extremity.
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something shaped like a quarter of a circle, as a part of a machine.
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Geometry, Astronomy. one of the four parts into which a plane, as the face of a heavenly body, is divided by two perpendicular lines, numbered counterclockwise from upper right.
the first quadrant of the moon.
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an instrument, usually containing a graduated arc of 90°, used in astronomy, navigation, etc., for measuring altitudes.
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Astrology. one of the four quarters of the horoscope: determined by the ascendant, nadir, descendant, and midheaven and numbered counterclockwise from the ascendant.
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Furniture. one of two metal sliding pieces, of quadrant form, used to support the fall front of a desk from above.
noun
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geometry
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a quarter of the circumference of a circle
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the area enclosed by two perpendicular radii of a circle and its circumference
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any of the four sections into which a plane is divided by two coordinate axes
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a piece of a mechanism in the form of a quarter circle, esp one used as a cam or a gear sector
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an instrument formerly used in astronomy and navigation for measuring the altitudes of stars, consisting of a graduated arc of 90° and a sighting mechanism attached to a movable arm
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An arc equal to one quarter of the circumference of a circle; an arc of 90°.
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Any of the four regions into which a plane is divided by the axes of a Cartesian coordinate system. The quadrants are numbered counterclockwise one through four, beginning with the quadrant in which both the x- and y-coordinates are positive (usually the upper right quadrant).
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A navigational instrument similar to a sextant but with an arc of 90° rather than 60°.
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See more at sextant
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of quadrant
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin quadrant- (stem of quadrāns ) fourth part
Explanation
A quadrant is one-fourth of a circle. When you bake an apple pie and then cut it equally so that you and three of your friends get pieces that are the same size, you'll each get a quadrant of the pie. When a circle is evenly divided into four sections by two perpendicular lines, each of the four areas is a quadrant. In fact, anything that's split into four equal parts can be described as being made up of quadrants, like a quadrant of a public park. The Latin root word is quadrantem, fourth part, and for many years quadrant was used to mean six hours, or one-quarter of a day.
Vocabulary lists containing quadrant
Algebra
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Geometry - Introductory
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Algebra
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Another suggestion is to make the play 'live' as soon as the ball is placed in the quadrant.
From BBC ● May 11, 2026
U.S. equities fell from the top-right leading quadrant to the bottom-right weakening quadrant.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 24, 2025
The complicated process involves Maryland taking over control of the track, building a training center and eventually closing Laurel Park to shift full-time racing to Pimlico in the northwest quadrant of Baltimore.
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024
The roundhouse's southwest quadrant was reserved for keeping lambs indoors.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 20, 2024
No major weather disturbance reported that day in quadrant.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
That means England can only go into the blue or turquoise quadrants on the left side, groups E, F, G, H or I.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2025
RRG charts are organized into four quadrants, seen in the chart below.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 24, 2025
“Now we’re in four different quadrants, when we used to be neighbors.”
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2025
There’s a bump in the middle of the green that effectively divides the green into two quadrants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2023
Across a river or deep in the blackened quadrants of a burned city.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
