quarto

American  

[kwawr-toh] / ˈkwɔr toʊ /

noun

plural

quartos

1. a book size of about 9½ × 12 inches (24 × 30 centimeters), determined by folding printed sheets twice to form four leaves or eight pages. 4to, 4°

2. a book of this size.

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adjective

1. bound in quarto.

quarto British  

/ ˈkwɔːtəʊ /

noun

1. Often written: 4to.   4°.  a book size resulting from folding a sheet of paper, usually crown or demy, into four leaves or eight pages, each one quarter the size of the sheet

2. (formerly) a size of cut paper 10 in. by 8 in. (25.4 cm by 20.3 cm)

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Etymology

Origin of quarto

First recorded in 1580–90; short for New Latin in quartō “in fourth” ( quartō, ablative singular of quartus “fourth”)

Explanation

When you make a book by folding a sheet of paper in half, and then in half again, you've made a quarto. Bestselling books are not usually published as quartos these days, but you might find an old Shakespearean text this size. Use the noun quarto to talk about a book that uses this same basic folded design. Each page of a quarto is one-fourth the size of the original sheet of paper, which is where its name comes from: the Medieval Latin in quarto means "in the fourth (of a sheet of paper)." Quarto also refers to a book of this size, or a piece of paper that measures ten by eight inches.

Example Sentences

Or the notion that McCartney might very well have gleaned the phrase "let it be" from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" — but mercifully, not from the bad quarto, it turns out.

From Salon • Nov. 1, 2021

Most editors of “Hamlet,” for instance, silently translate “porpentine” to “porcupine” without incurring outrage, though whether the porcupine is “fretful” or “fearful” depends on whether you follow the folio or the second quarto.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 6, 2015

While with plays such as Hamlet, Othello and King Lear we can compare the Folio against the quarto, for other plays – such as Antony and Cleopatra, The Tempest and Macbeth – we cannot.

From The Guardian • Jul. 12, 2013

In a library full of old and obscure texts, the 234-page quarto was older and more obscure than most.

From Slate • Dec. 12, 2012

All the works of this eminent philosopher were published by Dr. Samuel Horsley, in 1779, in five volumes, quarto; and an English translation of his "Philosoph� Naturalis Principia Mathematic�," is extant.

From Curiosities of Human Nature by Anonymous

Related Words

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• copy
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• textbook
• tome
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• work
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