QUADRAT

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 1 September 2011

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QUADRAT  (n. pl. -S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a small area, usually square or rectangular, marked off for studying local plants and animals; also the frame or grid used to mark off such an area
2. (n.) in letterpress printing, a small block of metal used for filling spaces

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -E, -S
• Anagrams: (none)
• Longer extensions: -ED, -ES, -IC, -ICS, -ING, -URE, -URES, -ICALLY
• Wraparounds: BIquadratIC, BIquadratICS
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: (none)

Epilogue:
Most English words beginning with QUAD- can be traced back to the Latin quadrum, “square.”  Such is the case with QUADRAT, as well as some of my other favorite QUAD- words:

• QUADRIVIUM the higher four of the seven subjects taught as part of a liberal arts education in the Middle Ages (the TRIVIUM consisted of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, while the QUADRIVIUM consisted of arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music)
  
• QUADRENNIAL occurring every four years (as the quadrennial U.S. presidential election)
  
• QUADRUMANOUS having all four feet adapted for grasping or functioning as hands (as among monkeys and apes)

This week’s theme: Words starting with the letter Q

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