# quarter



## SuperXW

In English we have this word, "quarter", which basically means "one fourth". 

Can you find equivalent in other languages?

We don't have a term for "one fourth" in Chinese. We just say 1/4, or 0.25, or 25%.
Because of that, a quarter dollar is a very interesting thing to us.
However, in some regions (e.g. Beijing), "15 minutes" does have its term: "yi2ke4".


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

*«Ένα τέταρτο»* ['ena 'tetarto] (both neut.) --> _one fourth, quarter_, or simply, *«τέταρτο»* ['tetarto] --> (ordinal)_ fourth _(neut.).
Examples:
"A quarter to X (hour)": «X (hour) παρά τέταρτο» [pa'ra 'tetarto]
«Ένα τέταρτο τυρί» ['ena 'tetarto ti'ri] : "a quarter of cheese" (equals to 250 gramms)

Etymology:
Ordinal *«τέταρτος, -τη, -το»* ['tetartos] (masc.), ['tetarti] (fem.), ['tetarto] (neut.) --> _fourth, quarter_ < Classical Gr. ordinal *«τέταρτος, τετάρτη, τέταρτον» tétartŏs (masc.), tĕtártē (fem.), tétartŏn (neut.)* (in epic poetry also *«τέτρατος» tétratŏs*, Boeotian *«πέτρατος» pétratŏs*) --> _fourth_ < Classical Gr. cardinal *«τέσσαρες, τέσσαρες, τέσσαρα» téssarĕs (masc. & fem. pl.), téssară (neut. pl.)* (Attic variant *«τέτταρες» téttarĕs*, Doric *«τέτορες» tétŏrĕs*, Aeolic *«πίσυρες» písurĕs*, Boeotian *«πέτταρες» péttarĕs* --> _four_ (PIE *kʷetuer-, _four_ cf Skt. चतुर् (catur), _four_; Lat. quattor > It. quattro, Sp. cuatro, Por. quatro, Fr. quattre, Rom. patru; OCS чєтырє > Rus. четыре, Bul. четири, BCS четири/četiri, from Proto-Slavic *četyre > Slo. štiri, Cz. čtyři, Svk. štyri)


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## ilocas2

Czech:

*čtvrt, čtvrtina, čtvrtka*
they are not completely synonymous

*čtvrť* - quarter of town

*čtyři* - four


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## ancalimon

In Turkish:

çeyrek: quarter (Çeyrek Lira : 25 Kuruş : 0.25 Lira)
buçuk, yarım: half  (halfling: buçukluk)


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## ahmedcowon

*In Arabic:*

1/2: نصف nisf
1/3: ثلث tholth
1/4: ربع robʿ
1/5: خمس khoms
1/6: سدس sods
1/7: سبع sobʿ
1/8: ثمن thomn
1/9: تسع tosʿ
1/10: عشر ʿoshr


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## ThomasK

IN Dutch we have 
- _*een kwart*_, meaning 'a quarter' in general contexts, or *een vierde*, a fourth
- *kwartier *(< _kwartuur_, a quarter of an _uur_, hour)


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## arielipi

Hebrew:
1/2: חצי hetzi
1/3: שליש shlish
1/4: רבע reva
1/5: חמישית khamishit
1/6: שישית shishit
1/7: שביעית shvi'it
1/8: שמינית shminit
1/9: תשיעית tshi'it
1/10: עשירית asirit
we have more till 1/19 included in the same manner, then we have every zero added to 10


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## Youngfun

Italian: 
*quarto* (lit. fourth) - 1/4
*quarto d'ora* (lit. 1/4 of the hour) - 15 minutes



SuperXW said:


> However, in some regions (e.g. Beijing), "15 minutes" does have its term: "yi2ke4".


I think that's Standard Mandarin, at least I was taught in Mandarin classes, although not used by my people from my region.

But while in Italian you can say *tre quarti d'ora *("3 quarters") to mean 45 minutes, in Chinese I don't think people say san1ke4.


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## SuperXW

Youngfun said:


> But while in Italian you can say *tre quarti d'ora *("3 quarters") to mean 45 minutes, in Chinese I don't think people say san1ke4.


In fact, some people do say 3 ke to mean "three quarters". I'm sure if search "点三刻", you'll find the results.


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## franknagy

Hungarian:
The 1/2 has a common special form *fél* and the precise mathematicians say *egyketted*.
All other fractional numbers are expressed by *-ad, -ed*, *-öd*. (The Hungarian language has not grammatical genders but it has the rule of harmony of vowels.)
1/3 = harmad, egyharmad 2/3=kétharmad, 1/5 = ötöd, egyötöd.
The 1/4 is *negyed* or *egynegyed* [quarter, one quarter].


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## willem81

Russian:  ч*e*тверть (ch*e*tvert); четверт*и*на (chetvert*i*na)
German:  das Viertel
Esperanto: kvarono


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## franknagy

How does Arabic form 1/n from n?


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## Ghabi

Youngfun said:


> ... in Chinese I don't think people say san1ke4.


In HK Cantonese 一時三刻 is used as an idiom for "a short period of time", although 刻 by itself is not used (instead 骨 gwat1 can be heard, from English "quarter").


franknagy said:


> How does Arabic form 1/n from n?


It's done with the pattern CuCC (plural: aCCāC) from 3 to 10.


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## franknagy

Ghabi said:


> It's done with the pattern CuCC (plural: aCCāC) from 3 to 10.



I cannot see this simple rule of "CuCC" in Ahmedkowon's answer.


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## sakvaka

In *Finnish*, 1/4 is _neljännes_ ('fourth') or _yksi neljäsosa_ ('one fourth-part'). The word _vartti_ (obviously related to _quarter_!) is nowadays mostly used to indicate '15 minutes', but some older people may also say things like _varttikilo voita_ ('a quarter kilo of butter' = 250 grams of butter)_._ I always say _neljänneskilo_ or _250 grammaa_.


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## franknagy

A childish joke with fraction 20/6= "húsz hatod" and the homophone verb form "húzhatod"="you may pull it" in Hungarian.

Ask the victim: "Mennyi tíz hatod meg tíz hatod?"
If he answers "Húsz hatod" then pull his ear.

When he protest you can reply: "Te mondtad, hogy meghúzhatom"="You have told that I may pull it".


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## Grefsen

SuperXW said:


> In English we have this word, "quarter", which basically means "one fourth".


I just thought I would add that the "quarter" is a U.S. coin worth 25 cents (a dollar is worth 100 cents).


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## aruniyan

in Tamil/Dravidian languages,  Quarter is *Kaal* also the word for leg and a natural way to express 1/4.


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## arielipi

in hebrew we can actually say x/1-19 and then the x/(10^y)


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## franknagy

Grefsen said:


> I just thought I would add that the "quarter" is a U.S. coin worth 25 cents (a dollar is worth 100 cents).



I do not know what is the connection between the "quater" and "kvártély" =the outdated equivalent of "szállás"=accommodation" in Hungarian. I can guess only one: the rooms have usually four corners.

"What is the absolute impossible? To shit into the corner of a rounded room."


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## Youngfun

In Spanish and Portuguese _cuarto_ / _quarto_ (fourth, quarter) also mean "room".


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## mcibor

In Polish we have
ćwierć / ćwiartka for 1/4

and kwadrans for time.
Only we never say 3 kwadranse. We say kwadrans po 11 - quarter after 11 - 11:15. Or kwadrans do 11 - quarter to 11 - 10:45.


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## Grefsen

franknagy said:


> I do not know what is the connection between the "qua*r*ter" and "kvártély" =the outdated equivalent of "szállás"=accommodation" in Hungarian. I can guess only one: the rooms have usually four corners.


That sounds like a reasonable guess *Frank. *

The Norwegian word *kvartal *can be used to mean "three months" (a quarter of a year) as well as "a block" (a group of houses bounded by four streets).


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## franknagy

The serfs had to pay 1/10 of their harvest to the king and other 1/10 of it to the Church.
This second tenth was named *kilenced* = 1/9.


> The Norwegian word *kvartal *can be used to mean "three months" (a quarter of a year) as well as "a block" (a group of houses bounded by four streets).


In Hungarian the *negyed*=1/4 is used similar way meaning settlement and district within a town.
Gettó=Zsidónegyed.

*Század* means a) 1/100, b) [év]század=a century, c) a squadron whose commander is the *százados*=captain; 
*ezred* means a) 1/1000, b) [év]ezred= thousand years, c) a regiment whose commander is the *ezredes*=colonel.


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## Grefsen

franknagy said:


> In Hungarian the *negyed*=1/4 is used similar way meaning settlement and district within a town.
> Gettó=Zsidónegyed.


An English translation of the Norwegian compound noun *villakvartal *is "residential district."


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## franknagy

The Hungarian folk tales express the hero's wandering to a far country with the phrase
"*heted*_hét_ országon is túl" = over even *(1/7)**_7_ countries.

This expression ignores that (1/7)*7=1.

I have never read a tale containing
"*hetven*_hét_ országon is túl" = over even 77 countries.


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## Grefsen

Perhaps this should be a topic of discussion for another thread, but I'm curious to know what the significance is of 1/7 as well as the number 7 in Hungarian.

Getting back to the original topic, along with using *kvartal *for "quarter," Norwegians also use the word *kvart *to mean 1/4 as well as a "15 minutes" (quarter of an hour).


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## myšlenka

Grefsen said:


> Getting back to the original topic, along with using *kvartal *for "quarter," Norwegians also use the word *kvart *to mean 1/4 as well as a "15 minutes" (quarter of an hour).


Just a few corrections 

*Kvart* - 1/4
*Kvartal *- 1) a block in a town/city, 2) a period of 3 months/quarter of a year.
*Kvarter* - 1) an area of a town/city, 2) 15 minutes, 3) lunar phase.


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## Grefsen

myšlenka said:


> Just a few corrections


*Tusen takk* (1,000 thanks) *myšlenka* for your contribution! 


myšlenka said:


> *Kvart* - 1/4
> *Kvartal* - 1) a block in a town/city, 2) a period of 3 months/quarter of a year.
> *Kvarter* - 1) an area of a town/city, 2) 15 minutes, 3) lunar phase.


The main source that I used for the translations in this thread is the University of Bergen LEXIN online dictionary for foreigners:

http://decentius.hit.uib.no/lexin.html?ui-lang=eng

Here's some of what I found for *kvart* using Lexin:

English:    *quarter (noun)
Bokmål* inflection:    [kvarten kvarter kvartene]
*Bokmål* explanation:    en fjerdedel (1/4), 15 minutter
*English:* *fourth (1/4), 15 minutes*
et kvart kilo
*English:* *250 grammes*
bussen kommer kvart på fire
*English:* *the bus arrives a quarter to four*


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## mataripis

Tagalog: Ika-apat na bahagi


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## kaverison

*Tamil*
I would like to expand on what Aruniyan said earlier: 
_kaal _means quarter. 
_arai _for half. 
3/4 is _mukkaal _- mu- prefix to indicate 3 times; literally, (3 X 1/4)
And you can combine the 2 to get 1/8th - _araikkaal _- half of quater (1/2 X 1/4)

And what about 3/8ths? That would be araiye-araikkaal - 1/2 + 1/4

 Not only that, there is a term for a lot of fractions. See this wiki post for more


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## AutumnOwl

Youngfun said:


> in Italian you can say *tre quarti d'ora *("3 quarters") to mean 45 minutes,





myšlenka said:


> *Kvart* - 1/4
> *Kvartal *- 1) a block in a town/city, 2) a period of 3 months/quarter of a year.
> *Kvarter* - 1) an area of a town/city, 2) 15 minutes, 3) lunar phase.


As in Norwegian *kvart* means 1/4, of an hour or a fourth of something, for example a cake. We can also say *en fjärdedel *- a fourth part when speaking about a fourth of something. And as in Italian we can say *trekvarts timme*, three quarter of an hour.
*Ett kvartal* means a period of three months.
*Ett kvarter* means an area of a town/city, a city block.

The Swedish word for square is *kvadrat, *which also is connected with the Latin word for four.


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## Dymn

In Catalan it's _*quart*_, and we use it every time we tell the hour:

11 - _les onze_
11:15 - _un quart de dotze_
11:30 - _dos quarts de dotze_
11:45 - _tres quarts de dotze_
12 - _les dotze_

For the times that fall between:

11:20 - _un quart i cinc de dotze_
11:40 - _dos quarts i deu de dotze_

Even when it falls more or less in the middle of 15, 30 or 45 we say:

11:22 - _un quart i mig de dotze_ 'one and a half quarter of twelve'


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## franknagy

>In Catalan it's _*quart*_, and we use it every time we tell the hour:

The quarters of hours are similar in Hungarian.
11:00 tizenegy óra    11 hour (singular!),
11:15 negyed tizenkettő 1/4 12,
11:30 fél tizenkettő 1/2 12,
11:45 háromnegyed tizenkettő 3/4 12,
12:00 tizenkét óra 12 hour (singular!),
12:15 negyed egy 1/4 1.

At quarter past eleven = negyed tizenkettőkor.


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## bigic

Serbian: četvrtina
četvrt: quarter (of a town)
četiri: four (4)


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