quire
1 Americannoun
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a set of 24 uniform sheets of paper.
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Bookbinding. a section of printed leaves in proper sequence after folding; gathering.
noun
noun
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a set of 24 or 25 sheets of paper; a twentieth of a ream
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four sheets of paper folded once to form a section of 16 pages
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a section or gathering
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a set of all the sheets in a book
noun
Etymology
Origin of quire
1175–1225; Middle English quayer < Middle French quaier < Vulgar Latin *quaternum set of four sheets, derivative of Latin quarternī four each
Explanation
Like a ream or a bale, a quire is a quantity of paper. There are 25 sheets of paper in a quire, plenty for you to write that short story. A quire is one-twentieth of a ream, which today means 25 pieces of paper per quire. Originally, each quire contained 24 sheets, a measurement that's still occasionally used for handmade paper. During the Middle Ages, a quire was a little book or pamphlet made from four folded sheets of parchment. The name stems from the medieval Latin quaternum, "set of four sheets of parchment," and the root quater, "four times."
Vocabulary lists containing quire
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.
Despite the distractions, smash musical after smash musical kept materializing on the quires of composition paper he kept in his luggage.
From Time Magazine Archive
In nature first blossoming re quires five years' growth.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Its eradica tion is a very difficult task that re quires much courage, many efforts and patience, but I am determined to push vigorously the anticorruption program."
From Time Magazine Archive
If the quires or gatherings in the book to be described are signed in print, the signatures used should be quoted without brackets.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various
One brother, for example, would pick out the vellum, see to the condition of the skins, arrange the quires, and rule them with compass and stylus.
From Books Before Typography A Primer of Information About the Invention of the Alphabet and the History of Book-Making up to the Invention of Movable Types Typographic Technical Series for Apprentices #49 by Hamilton, Frederick W. (Frederick William)
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.
