quartan

quartan [kwawr-tn] ExamplesWord Origin adjective

1. (of a fever, ague, etc.) characterized by paroxysms that recur every fourth day, both days of consecutive occurrence being counted.

noun

2. a quartan fever or ague.
3. quartan malaria.

Origin of quartan 1250–1300; Middle English quartaine Old French Latin (febris) quartāna quartan (fever), feminine of quartānus, equivalent to quart(us) fourth + -ānus -an Examples from the Web for quartan Historical Examples of quartan

This is the cycle, as described by Golgi, of the tertian and quartan parasite.

The Popular Science Monthly, July, 1900

Various

Favorinus extolled Thersites, and wrote in praise of a quartan ague.

In Praise of Folly

Desiderius Erasmus

I had heard also that you had been plagued by a quartan ague.

The Dealings of Captain Sharkey

A. Conan Doyle

Don Carlos had also fallen sick of the quartan fever, some time before the arrival of the queen in Spain.

The History of the Inquisition of Spain from the Time of its Establishment to the Reign of Ferdinand VII.

Juan Antonio Llorente

In fixing this date he knew that Bayard was ill at the time with a quartan fever.

Bayard: The Good Knight Without Fear And Without Reproach

Christopher Hare

British Dictionary definitions for quartan quartan adjective

1. (esp of a malarial fever) occurring every third day

Word Origin for quartan C13: from Latin febris quartāna fever occurring every fourth day, reckoned inclusively quartan in Medicine quartan [kwôrt′n] adj.

1. Recurring every fourth day, counting inclusively, or every 72 hours. Used of a fever.