# quadrant

/ˈkwɑdɹənt/ (US) · /kwˈɒdɹənt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/quadrant
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. one of four areas

noun · CEFR B2

one of the four parts that an area is divided into by two lines that cross.

For teachers: one of the four sections into which a plane or area is divided by two perpendicular lines.

- The city is divided into four quadrants, and we live in the northwest one.
- The search party focused their efforts on the southern quadrant of the forest where the signal was last detected.

### 2. mathematics

noun · CEFR B2 · Technical

one of the four regions on a graph divided by the x and y lines.

For teachers: one of the four regions of the Cartesian plane bounded by the x-axis and y-axis.

- In this math problem, the point lies in the upper-right quadrant of the graph.
- Students must identify whether the coordinates result in a point located in the first or third quadrant.

### 3. geometry

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a quarter of a circle, or a shape that looks like a slice of pie with a 90-degree angle.

For teachers: a sector of a circle representing one fourth of the total area, with a central angle of 90 degrees.

- The architect designed a window in the shape of a quadrant.
- The area of the quadrant can be calculated by dividing the total area of the circle by four.

### 4. navigation tool

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Technical

an old tool used by sailors to measure the height of stars to find their position.

For teachers: a historical navigational instrument with a graduated arc of 90 degrees, used for measuring the altitude of celestial bodies.

- The museum has an old brass quadrant used by explorers in the 1700s.
- Before the invention of the sextant, mariners relied on the quadrant to determine their latitude by observing the North Star.

## Examples

- The target is located in the upper-right quadrant of the screen.
- The search team divided the forest into four quadrants to ensure they covered every square meter of the terrain.
- In the final stage of the experiment, the researchers observed that the majority of the particles migrated toward the lower-left quadrant of the petri dish within seconds of exposure.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.