QUARTER - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

QUARTERAuthored

The Law Mind • 1253 words

Definition

QUARTER carries several distinct legal meanings depending on context. Researchers should identify which sense is operative before proceeding.

Fraction. The fourth part of any divisible unit. In legal instruments, contracts, and statutes, "quarter" most commonly refers to one-fourth of a year (a quarter-year or quarter-annum), used to fix rent payment periods, lease terms, interest calculations, and similar recurring obligations.

Land measure (American). In U.S. public land law, a quarter section is one-fourth of a section of land under the Public Land Survey System — 160 acres, being one-fourth of a 640-acre section. The homestead quarter (160 acres) was the standard unit of allocation under the Homestead Act of 1862. References in 19th-century deeds and land records to "the quarter" almost always invoke this meaning.

Linear measure. Four inches. Appears in older English statutes and trade regulations measuring cloth, timber, and similar goods. Largely obsolete in modern American practice.

Grain measure (English). In English law, a quarter of corn was a measure of volume, generally reckoned at eight bushels, though subject to local variation. Relevant to agricultural leases, tithe records, and manorial accounts in historical English sources.

Quarter of a day (old English law). Burrill records the use of "quarter" to mean one-fourth of a day in early English property conveyances. Bracton and Britton both reference the division of the day into quarters for purposes of determining the moment of seisin.

Quarter (law of war). In the law of armed conflict, to give quarter means to spare the life of a defeated or surrendering enemy. To refuse quarter — ordering that no prisoners be taken — is a war crime under customary international law and modern treaty law. This sense is entirely distinct from the measurement meanings.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Pertaining to a fourth part, 25%, or a three-month period.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): One of four equal parts into which anything is divided; specifically, the fourth of a hundredweight (25 or 28 pounds) or eight bushels of grain.

The gap between common and legal usage lies not in the core fraction concept, which is shared, but in the specialized applications legal sources attach to it. A modern reader encountering "quarter" in a deed, lease, grain contract, or military order must resist defaulting to the familiar monetary or calendrical sense. The land-measure, grain-measure, day-fraction, and law-of-war meanings require context-specific identification, and conflating them produces significant errors in reading historical documents.

Common Confusion

The war-of-war sense of QUARTER is entirely unrelated to the measurement senses and should not be read into property, commercial, or statutory sources. Conversely, the measurement senses should never be imported into military or humanitarian law contexts. Researchers encountering "quarter" in 18th- and 19th-century sources should first determine the document type (deed, lease, grain contract, military order, court record) before fixing meaning.

Recognized Forms

/SUBTYPES

Quarter-day: The four days in the English legal calendar on which quarterly rents and other periodic payments traditionally fell due — Lady Day (March 25), Midsummer (June 24), Michaelmas (September 29), and Christmas (December 25). These were the operative dates for lease renewals, servant hirings, and debt settlements in English common law practice and persist in some English commercial contexts today.

Quarter section: The standard 160-acre unit of the U.S. Public Land Survey System, being one-fourth of a section. Designated by compass direction: NW¼, NE¼, SW¼, SE¼.

Quarter sessions: Courts of quarter sessions were English and early American tribunals convening four times per year (at each quarter-day period) to hear criminal matters below the level of assizes and certain civil and administrative business. Abolished in England by the Courts Act 1971. American equivalents varied by state and era.

Give/refuse quarter: The law-of-war usage. To give quarter is to accept an enemy's surrender and spare their life. To refuse or deny quarter is prohibited under customary international law and codified in the 1907 Hague Regulations and the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Why It Matters in Research

The multiplicity of meanings is the central research hazard. A single corpus — say, 19th-century American legal records — may use "quarter" to mean a calendar period (lease terms), a land unit (deeds), a linear measure (surveying disputes), and a procedural tribunal (quarter sessions), often within related documents. Keyword searching without context filtering will return all of these and conflate them.

For land research specifically: quarter section is the dominant American legal meaning from roughly 1785 onward, coinciding with the Land Ordinance of 1785. Pre-1785 American colonial documents using "quarter" more likely refer to the English linear or grain measure, or to time periods. The shift is sharp and date-sensitive.

For English legal history: quarter-days are load-bearing dates in lease, employment, and debt records. Missing which quarter-day governed a particular obligation can produce errors in calculating breach dates, limitation periods, and payment obligations.

For constitutional research: the Third Amendment's prohibition on quartering soldiers in private homes uses "quarter" in the law-of-war/military billeting sense, not the measurement sense. The Encyclopedia entry linked above addresses this dimension fully.

Quarter sessions records are a distinct archival category. Researchers mining historical criminal or administrative records should be aware that quarter sessions courts produced their own docket books, order books, and indictment files, separate from common law court records.

Historical Dictionary Support

The historical dictionaries agree on the core measurement senses but vary in emphasis. Black's (2nd ed.) is the most complete, noting the English grain measure, the American quarter section, and the quarter-day usage, and it is the only historical dictionary source here to flag jurisdictional variation in the grain measure (citing Hospital St. Cross v. Lord Howard De Walden). Bouvier adds the law-of-war dimension in useful detail, noting that the right to quarter became recognized usage by the end of the 17th century and identifying the narrow circumstances — overwhelming necessity, hostile territory, inability to manage prisoners — under which refusal was historically argued to be justified. Burrill contributes the archaic old English meaning of a quarter of a day, preserving the Britton reference that is otherwise absent from the other dictionaries. Rapalje & Lawrence's entry as captured here addresses quare impedit rather than quarter and is not substantively useful for this term. Anderson's entry is a bare cross-reference with no independent content.

What the historical dictionaries collectively miss: none addresses the constitutional quartering dimension (Third Amendment), none discusses quarter sessions courts in detail, and none flags the transition from English grain/linear measures to the American land-survey meaning. Researchers relying solely on the historical dictionaries for American land law practice will find them incomplete.

Jurisdictional Note

The quarter section meaning is specific to jurisdictions surveyed under the U.S. Public Land Survey System, which covers most states admitted after 1785 but excludes the original thirteen colonies, Texas, and Hawaii, which used different survey systems. In those excluded jurisdictions, "quarter" in a deed does not invoke the 160-acre unit and must be interpreted by reference to local survey practice.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

The Third Amendment — Quartering of Soldiers (Historical and Modern Relevance), The Law Mind Constitutional Law Encyclopedia

QUARTERmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

The fourth part of a thing, especially of a year. Also a length of four inches.

QUARTERmain

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910

The fourth part of anything, especially of a year. Also a length of four inches. In England, a measure of corn, generally reckoned at eight bushels, though subject to local variations. See Hospital St. Cross vy. Lord Howard De Walden, 6 Term, 343. In American land law, a quarter seetion of land. See infra. And see McCartney v. Dennison, 101 Cal. 252, 35 Pac. 766. —Quarter-day. The four days in the year upon which, by law or custom, moneys payable in quarter- -yearly installments are collectible, are A called ‘“quarter-days.”—Quarter-dollar. silver coin of the United States, of the value of twenty-five cents—Quarter-eagle. A _ gold A liquid measure, containing

QUARTERmain

Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883

(1047) present clerks to the bishop, the person rightfully entitled to present should commence an action of quare impedit in the High Court against the bishop, the pretended patron, and his clerk, in order to determine the question of right and prevent his opponent's clerk from obtaining (or retaining) the benefice. An action of quare impedit also lies against the bishop if he refuses to admit a clerk on the ground of incapacity or the like. (Phillim. Ecc. L. 451; 3 Steph. Com. Cor 416; Jud. Act, 1875, App. A., part ii., 4.) The trial is generally by jury, but in some instances (it is said) by certificate. Steph. Com. 611; see Rules of Court, xxxvi., 26. See TRIAL; see, also, JUS PATRONATUS. - (1) The fourth part of a thing. (2) A length of four inches. QUARTER-DAYS.-The days which begin the four quarters of the year, and upon which rent payable quarterly becomes due.

QUARTERn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

One of four equal parts into which anything is divided, or is regarded as divided; a fourth part or portion; as, a quarter of a dollar, of a pound, of a yard, of an hour, etc. Hence, specifically: The fourth of a hundred-weight, being 25 or 28 pounds, according as the hundredweight is reckoned at 100 or 112 pounds. The fourth of a ton in weight, or eight bushels of grain; as, a quarter of wheat; also, the fourth part of a chaldron of coal. Hutton. One limb of a quadruped with the adjacent parts; one fourth part of the carcass of a slaughtered animal, including a leg; as, the fore quarters; the hind quarters. That part of a boot or shoe which forms the side, from the heel to the vamp. A term of study in a seminary, college, etc, etc.; properly, a fourth part of the year, but often longer or shorter. (h) pl. (Mil.) The encampment on one of the principal passages round a place besieged, to prevent relief and intercept convoys. A division of a town, city, or county; a particular district; a locality; as, the Latin quarter in Paris. Proper station; specific place; assigned position; special location. Swift to their several quarters hasted then The cumbrous elements. Milton. Hence, specifically: Place of lodging or temporary residence; shelter; entertainment; -- usually in the plural. The banter turned as to what quarters each would find. W. Irving. pl. (Mil.) A station or encampment occupied by troops; a place of lodging for soldiers or officers; as, winter quarters. Treatment shown by an enemy; mercy; especially, the act of sparing the life a conquered enemy; a refraining from pushing one's advantage to extremes. He magnified his own clemency, now they were at his mercy, to offer them quarter for their lives. Clarendon. Cocks and lambs . . . at the mercy of cats and wolves . . . must never expect better quarter. L'Estrange. Friendship; amity; concord. [Obs.] To keep quarter, to keep one's proper place, and so be on good terms with another. [Obs.] In quarter, and in terms like bride and groom. Shak. I knew two that were competitors for the secretary's place, . . . and yet kept good quarter between themselves. Bacon. False quarter, a cleft in the quarter of a horse's foot.  -- Fifth quarter, the hide and fat; -- a butcher's term.  -- On the quarter (Naut.), in a direction between abeam and astern; opposite, or nearly opposite, a vessel's quarter.  -- Quarter aspect. (Astrol.) Same as Quadrate.  -- Quarter back (Football), the player who has position next behind center rush, and receives the ball on the snap back.  -- Quarter badge (Naut.), an ornament on the side of a vessel near, the stern. Mar. Dict.  -- Quarter bill (Naut.), a list specifying the different stations to be taken by the officers and crew in time of action, and the names of the men assigned to each.  -- Quarter block (Naut.), a block fitted under the quarters of a yard on each side of the slings, through which the clew lines and sheets are reeved. R. H. Dana, Jr.  -- Quarter boat (Naut.), a boat hung at a vessel's quarter.  -- Quarter cloths (Naut.), long pieces of painted canvas, used to cover the quarter netting.  -- Quarter day, a day regarded as terminating a quarter of the year; hence, one on which any payment, especially rent, becomes due. In matters influenced by United States statutes, quarter days are the first days of January, April, July, and October. In New York and many other places, as between landlord and tenant, they are the first days of May, August, November, and February. The quarter days usually recognized in England are 25th of March (Lady Day), the 24th of June (Midsummer Day), the 29th of September (Michaelmas Day), and the 25th of December (Christmas Day).  -- Quarter face, in fine arts, portrait painting, etc., a face turned away so that but one quarter is visible.  -- Quarter gallery (Naut.), a balcony on the quarter of a ship. See Gallery, 4.  -- Quarter gunner (Naut.), a petty officer who assists the gunner.  -- Quarter look, a side glance. [Obs.] B. Jonson.  -- Quarter nettings (Naut.), hammock nettings along the quarter rails.  -- Quarter note (Mus.), a note equal in duration to half a minim or a fourth of semibreve; a crochet.  -- Quarter pieces (Naut.), several pieces of timber at the after- part of the quarter gallery, near the taffrail. Totten.  -- Quarter point. (Naut.) See Quarter, n., 1 (n).  -- Quarter railing, or Quarter rails (Naut.), narrow molded planks reaching from the top of the stern to the gangway, serving as a fence to the quarter-deck.  -- Quarter sessions (Eng. Law), a general court of criminal jurisdiction held quarterly by the justices of peace in counties and by the recorders in boroughs.  -- Quarter square (Math.), the fourth part of the square of a number. Tables of quarter squares have been devised to save labor in multiplying numbers.  -- Quarter turn, Quarter turn belt (Mach.), an arrangement in which a belt transmits motion between two shafts which are at right angles with each other.  -- Quarter watch (Naut.), a subdivision of the full watch (one fourth of the crew) on a man-of- war.  -- To give, or show, quarter (Mil.), to accept as prisoner, on submission in battle; to forbear to kill, as a vanquished enemy.  -- To keep quarter. See Quarter, n., 3.

QUARTERv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To divide into four equal parts. To divide; to separate into parts or regions. Then sailors quartered heaven. Dryden. To furnish with shelter or entertainment; to supply with the means of living for a time; especially, to furnish shelter to; as, to quarter soldiers. They mean this night in Sardis to be quartered. Shak. To furnish as a portion; to allot. [R.] This isle . . . He quarters to his blue-haired deities. Milton. To arrange (different coats of arms) upon one escutcheon, as when a man inherits from both father and mother the right to bear arms.

QUARTERv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To lodge; to have a temporary residence.

quarteradj

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

Pertaining to an aspect of a quarter. | Consisting of a fourth part, a quarter (¹⁄₄, 25%). | Related to a three-month term, a quarter of a year.

quarterverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

To divide into quarters; to divide by four. | To provide housing for military personnel or other equipment. | To lodge; to have a temporary residence. | To quartersaw. | To execute (someone) by tying each limb to a different animal (such as a horse) and driving them in different directions. | To display different coats of arms in the quarters of a shield. | To range to and fro over an area; to move from point to point.

Quartername

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

A village in South Lanarkshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS7251).

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