Webster's English Dictionaryquadrant
quad.rant \'kwa:d-r*nt\ \kwa:-'drant-*l\ n [ME, fr. L quadrant-, quadrans fourth part; akin to L quattuorX four - more at FOUR 1a: an instrument for measuring altitudes consisting commonly of a graduate d arc of 90 with an index or vernier and usu. having a plumb line or spirit level for fixing the vertical or horizontal direction 1b: a device or mechanical part shaped like or suggestive of the quadrant o f a circle 2a: an arc of 90 that is one quarter of a circle 2b: the area bounded by a quadrant and two radii 3a: any of the four parts into which a plane is divided by rectangular coor dinate axes lying in that plane 3b: any of the four quarters into which something is divided by two real or imaginary lines that intersect each other at right angles - qua.dran.tal aj