quatre

English

Alternative forms

• cater

Etymology

Borrowed from French quatre. Doublet of cuatro and four.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkætə(ɹ)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

quatre (plural quatres)

1. (archaic, dice games, card games, dominoes) A card, die, or domino with four spots or pips.
   • 1775, “a Connoisseur”, “Containing an Account of the Game of Back-gammon, with the most approved Method of playing at it, and the Rules of the Game. Together with the Artifices and Legerdemains that are frequently practised at it.”, in Annals of Gaming; or, The Fair Player’s Sure Guide. Containing Original Treatises on the following Games. […], London: […] G. Allen, […], pages 181–182:

     Accordingly the firſt beſt throw upon the dice is eſteemed aces, as it ſtops the ſix point in the outer table, and ſecures the cinque in your own, whereby your adverſary's two men upon your ace point cannot get out with either quatre, cinq, or ſix.

   • 1775, “Introduction to the Game of Back-Gammon; With the most approved Method of playing at it”, in Charles Jones, editor, Hoyle’s Games Improved. Being Practical Treatises on the following Fashionable Games, […], London: […] J. Rivington and J. Wilkie, […], page 170:

     The firſt beſt Throw upon the Dice is eſteemed Aces, as it ſtops the Six-Point in the outer Table, and ſecures the Cinque in your own, whereby your Adverſary’s two Men upon your Ace-Point cannot get out with either Quatre, Cinque, or Six.

Related terms

• ace, deuce, trey, cinque, sice

See also

• ménage à quatre
• pas de quatre
• quatre quart

Anagrams

• aquert, quarte

Aragonese

Etymology

Akin to Spanish cuatro, from Latin quattuor.

Numeral

quatre

1. four

Catalan

Catalan numbers ^(edit)

	40
←  3	4	5  →
Cardinal: quatre     Ordinal: quart     Ordinal abbreviation: 4t     Multiplier: quàdruple
Catalan Wikipedia article on 4

Etymology

Inherited from Latin quattuor (“four”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres. Compare Occitan quatre, French quatre, and Spanish cuatro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈkwa.tɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈkwa.tɾe]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atɾe

Numeral

quatre m or f

1. (cardinal number) four
2. a few

   quatre gats ― only a few people (literally, “four cats”)

Derived terms

• quatre gats (“only a few people”, literally “four cats”)
• dir quatre coses (“to tell off”, literally “to tell four things”)
• fer quatre ratlles (“to write a short text”, literally “to make four lines”)

Noun

quatre m (plural quatres)

1. four
2. (castells) a castell with four castellers per level

References

• “quatre” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

French numbers ^(edit)

	40
←  3	4	5  →
Cardinal: quatre     Ordinal: quatrième     Ordinal abbreviation: 4e, (nonstandard) 4ème     Multiplier: quadruple     Fractional: quart
French Wikipedia article on 4

Etymology

Inherited from Old French quatre, qatre, catre, from Latin quattuor, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres. Compare Catalan quatre, Italian quattro, Portuguese quatro, Spanish cuatro.

Pronunciation

• (alone or preceding a vowel) IPA^(key): /katʁ/
• (preceding a consonant) IPA^(key): /ka.tʁə/, (colloquial) /kat/

• Audio (France):

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• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Paris)):

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France):

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• Audio (France (Grenoble)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Hérault)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Massy)):

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Numeral

quatre (invariable)

1. four

Derived terms

• à un de ces quatre
• dire ses quatre vérités
• entre quatre yeux
• la semaine des quatre jeudis
• manger comme quatre
• patin à quatre roues
• patin à roulettes quatre roues
• quatre cents
• quatre dragons du Pacifique
• quatre volontés
• quatrième
• se mettre en quatre
• se plier en quatre
• tiré à quatre épingles
• tous les quatre matins
• trèfle à quatre feuilles
• un de ces quatre
• un de ces quatre matins

Descendants

• Antillean Creole: katr, kat
• Garifuna: gádürü
• Guianese Creole: katr, kat
• Karipúna Creole French: kat
• Louisiana Creole: kat
• Seychellois Creole: kat
• Tayo: katr
• → English: quatre

See also

Playing cards in French · cartes à jouer (layout · text)
as	deux	trois	quatre	cinq	six	sept
huit	neuf	dix	valet	dame	roi	joker

Further reading

• “quatre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• traque, traqué

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French quatre, from Latin quattuor, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈka.trə/

Numeral

quatre (invariable)

1. four (4)

Descendants

• French: quatre (see there for further descendants)

Norman

Norman cardinal numbers

<  3	4	5  >
Cardinal : quatre

Alternative forms

• quat' (Jersey)
• quate (continental Norman)

Etymology

From Old French quatre, from Latin quattuor, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres.

Numeral

quatre

1. (Guernsey) four

Occitan

Occitan cardinal numbers

<  3	4	5  >
Cardinal : quatre     Ordinal : quatren
Occitan Wikipedia article on Quatre

Etymology

From Old Occitan quatre, catre, from Latin quattuor. Cognates include Catalan quatre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈka.tɾe/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: qua‧tre

Numeral

quatre

1. four

Related terms

• quaranta
• quart
• quatren

Old French

Alternative forms

• catre, qatre

Etymology

From Latin quattuor, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈk(w)atɾə/

Numeral

cardinal number

4	Previous:	trois
	Next:	cinc

quatre

1. four

Descendants

• Champenois: caitre, quaitre
• Franc-Comtois: quaitre
• Middle French: quatre
  • French: quatre (see there for further descendants)
• Norman: quate (continental), quatre (Guernsey), quat' (Jersey)
• Picard: quate
• Walloon: cwate