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quartan

American  
[kwawr-tn] / ˈkwɔr tn /

adjective

  1. (of a fever, ague, etc.) characterized by paroxysms that recur every fourth day, both days of consecutive occurrence being counted.


noun

  1. a quartan fever or ague.

  2. quartan malaria.

quartan British  
/ ˈkwɔːtən /

adjective

  1. (esp of a malarial fever) occurring every third day

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of quartan

1250–1300; Middle English quartaine < Old French < Latin ( febris ) quartāna quartan (fever), feminine of quartānus, equivalent to quart ( us ) fourth + -ānus -an

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.

It therefore furnishes the basis of classification of simple intermittents into the following forms: quotidian, tertian, and quartan.

From Project Gutenberg

It has been observed in intermitting fevers, that paroxysms of the quotidian recur in the morning, the tertian at noon, and the quartan in the afternoon; in no instance do they take place at night.

From Project Gutenberg

Two, the so-called benign fevers, are intermittent; namely, tertian and quartan fever, in which the fever recurs every second and third day respectively.

From Project Gutenberg

Don Carlos had also fallen sick of the quartan fever, some time before the arrival of the queen in Spain.

From Project Gutenberg

Her fountains ministered to bodily ailments—Vapours, Winds, Gouts, Quinsies, Consumptions, Fevers quartan and tertian—without pretending to the power of love-philtres or the sparkle of the Castalian Spring.

From Project Gutenberg