Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Consisting of four; in fours.
- adjective Of, relating to, or being the period of geologic time from about 1.8 million years ago to the present, the more recent of the two periods of the Cenozoic Era. It is characterized by the appearance and development of humans and includes the Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs.
- adjective Chemistry Relating to a nonhydrogen atom bonded to four other nonhydrogen atoms, especially to four carbon atoms.
- noun The number four.
- noun The member of a group that is fourth in order.
- noun The Quaternary Period.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Fourfold or tetragonal: said of the symmetry of crystals. See
symmetry , 6. - Consisting of four; arranged or grouped in fours.
- [capitalized] In geology, noting that part of the geological series which is more recent than the Tertiary; Post-tertiary. (See
Tertiary .) - In old chemistry, noting those compounds which contained four elements, as fibrin, gelatin, etc.
- In mathematics, containing, as a quantic, or homogeneous integral function, four variables.
- noun A group of four things.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Consisting of four; by fours, or in sets of four.
- adjective (Geol.) Later than, or subsequent to, the Tertiary; Post-tertiary.
- noun The number four.
- noun (Geol.) The Quaternary age, era, or formation. See the
Chart ofGeology .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of fourth
rank ororder . - adjective Of a
mathematical expression containing e.g. x4.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective consisting of or especially arranged in sets of four
- noun the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
- noun last 2 million years
- adjective coming next after the third and just before the fifth in position or time or degree or magnitude
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But basically we are in what is called the quaternary period and for the past 200,000 years we have been going in and out of ice ages.
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Other injuries caused by an explosion, such as burns, are called quaternary injuries.
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TIERNO: That you should leave that material wet for ten minutes because these wipes have what's called quaternary ammonium compounds in them, and that takes at least ten minutes to really effectively work.
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This leaves the scale a decimal scale still, even while it may justly be called quaternary; and produces one of the most singular and interesting instances of number-system formation that has ever been observed.
The Number Concept Its Origin and Development Levi Leonard Conant
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The quaternary is the most perfect number, and the root of other numbers, and of all things.
Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Albert Pike 1850
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The scientists explain that so-called quaternary amine-treated organoclays have been pioneering nanoparticles in the field of plastics nanotechnology.
PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010
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Inspired by this, the researchers created a highly reactive and selective chemical component referred to as a quaternary centre that, because of structural similarities, also drives the essential first step in the kapakahines synthesis.
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The current one is known as the quaternary glaciation and started about 4 million years ago.
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Inspired by this, the researchers created a highly reactive and selective chemical component referred to as a quaternary centre that, because of structural similarities, also drives the essential first step in the kapakahines synthesis.
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Use of sanitizers such as quaternary ammonium compounds that destroy the live components of milk.
WN.com - Articles related to Congress begins investigating salmonella outbreak, egg recalls 2010
Jesterpatch commented on the word quaternary
Here's a deftly written sentence featuring quaternary in its meaning "of the fourth rank":
"To Fred Astaire, the dance was primary — his main story — and he had it filmed accordingly. In Michael Jackson's videos, the dance was tertiary, even quaternary (after the song and the story and the filming). The camera repeatedly cuts away, and, when it comes back, it often limits itself to the upper body. Jackson didn't value his dancing enough.
"Walking on the Moon: Michael Jackson in motion" Joan Acocella
The New Yorker July 27, 2009, 77.
September 24, 2009