Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
quarto [kwawr-toh] ExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for quarto on Thesaurus.com noun, plural quar·tos.
- a book size of about 9½ × 12 inches (24 × 30 cm), determined by folding printed sheets twice to form four leaves or eight pages. Symbol: 4to, 4°
- a book of this size.
adjective
- bound in quarto.
Origin of quarto 1580–90; short for New Latin in quartō in fourth (quartō, ablative singular of quartus fourth) Related Words for quarto essay, album, novel, publication, dictionary, pamphlet, text, work, manual, textbook, fiction, volume, edition, magazine, booklet, brochure, writing, copy, tome, paperback Examples from the Web for quarto Historical Examples of quarto
It occupied four sheets of quarto paper, closely type-written.
George A. Birmingham
Both are in quarto, and are biographical as well as bibliographical.
P. B. M. Allan
At the Fairfax Murray sale in 1918 the quarto Lyons edition made £130.
P. B. M. Allan
This was republished in two quarto volumes at Frankfort in 1625.
P. B. M. Allan
The quarto was genuine in every respect, but it was a facsimile!
William Roberts
British Dictionary definitions for quarto quarto noun plural -tos
- a book size resulting from folding a sheet of paper, usually crown or demy, into four leaves or eight pages, each one quarter the size of the sheetOften written: 4to, 4°
- (formerly) a size of cut paper 10 in. by 8 in. (25.4 cm by 20.3 cm)
Word Origin for quarto C16: from New Latin phrase in quartō in quarter Word Origin and History for quarto n.
“book from paper folded to make four pages to the sheet,” late 15c., from Medieval Latin in quarto “in the fourth (part of a sheet of paper),” from quarto, ablative singular of Latin quartus “fourth” (see quart).