quarto
Americannoun
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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°
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a book of this size.
adjective
noun
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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
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(formerly) a size of cut paper 10 in. by 8 in. (25.4 cm by 20.3 cm)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing quarto
Curtain Call: Dance and Theater Terms
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Shakespeare
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Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q
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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:
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
While sifting through details of how in the course of history someone passed on an obscure quarto edition to someone else, it is hard not to think that the curse is on the reader.
From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2019
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
Without the Folio, Shakespeare's plays – scattered around in playscripts or in smaller quarto editions – might have been lost to posterity.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 12, 2013
The bands are also stretched upon the sewing frame; for folio, at least six are used, and for quarto not less than four.
From Practical Bookbinding by Adam, Paul
Before then, only 18 had been printed, in small paperback editions known as quartos.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2023
The others, often differing in numerous details, first appeared in the 1590s and early 1600s as cheap pamphlets called quartos.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2023
During his lifetime, quartos, small hand-held books sold on the street like paperbacks, were published, without his permission or approval, in pirated editions.
From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2021
Nor should we assume that Shakespeare's quartos represent "pure", unadulterated texts.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 12, 2013
However, demand was fully re-established in the decade 1600-1609, and not just for the new more complex commentaries such as that of Clavius, published in fat quartos, but also for cheap octavo editions.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
