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:
The world silver medallist completed victory for the quartet in a European record 39.97 seconds to add to her triumphs in the 100m, 200m and women's 4x100m in Birmingham.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
But all of that changed with “Yesterday,” which Martin adorned with a string quartet.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
In the team pursuit, riders start as a quartet before dropping to three when the one at the front has given everything.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
The new-look quartet will aim to dethrone the New York Knicks and chase James’s fifth championship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
She once sang with Sarah Vaughan in the Bluebon- nets, a quartet that sang with Earl Hines.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Her roots are pure Appalachia; growing up in Sandy Hook, Ky., as the daughter of a dentist turned local politician and a mother who played piano for gospel quartets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
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
It should be fascinating to hear what they do with the remaining quartets.
From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2024
We exist as parts of trios, quartets, and so on.
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
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.
