quartet
Americannoun
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quartets
plural
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any group of four persons or things.
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an organized group of four singers or players.
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a musical composition for four voices or instruments.
noun
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a group of four singers or instrumentalists or a piece of music composed for such a group See string quartet
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any group of four
a quartet of fast bowlers
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of quartet
1765–75; < Italian quartetto, diminutive of quarto < Latin quartus fourth
Explanation
A quartet is a musical group with four members. If you play the viola, you might form a string quartet with two violinists and a cellist. You can use the noun quartet to describe your four-person singing group, and you can also use it to talk about the piece of music you're performing, if it's written specifically for four voices or instruments. The word quartet comes from the Italian quarto, or "fourth," which in turn has it roots in the Latin quartus, also meaning "fourth."
Vocabulary lists containing quartet
Music - Introductory
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Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q
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Music - Middle School
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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:
Root said his quartet of fast bowlers "do not know how good they can be".
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Mr. Lloyd likes to say that Higgins somehow posthumously led him to drummer Eric Harland, who anchors his current quartet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The title of “Eternal Dreamer,” a moody, drone-based offering, evokes that of “Dream Weaver,” a 1966 album by his landmark quartet with pianist Keith Jarrett, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jack DeJohnette.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Vernon and Tanfield were part of the Team GB quartet beaten by Australia in the Paris Olympics final.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
He, too, was dressed in black, and his hair was as dark as the quartet of horsetails that were now impatiently whipping about.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
String quartets strummed their way through classical covers of pop hits.
From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2026
There would be many awards, nine Grammys among them, including two for the ensemble’s 1980s recordings of Béla Bartók’s string quartets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Throughout the 1950s, the ensemble made a series of revelatory LPs for Capitol Records performing the late Beethoven string quartets and much else, while also joining Frank Sinatra in his torchy classic, “Close to You.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2025
It should be fascinating to hear what they do with the remaining quartets.
From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2024
String quartets and vocal stylists soared across the skies with a cabin full of contented passengers.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
