How do you pronounce quaternary?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkwɑ.tɚˌnɛɹ.i/.

quaternary

/ˈkwɑ.tɚˌnɛɹ.i/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.85 in modern English

Syllables: qua-ter-nary
IPA: /ˈkwɑ.tɚˌnɛɹ.i/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of fourth rank or order.

adj

Of a mathematical expression containing e.g. x⁴.

adj

Relating to or in number base four.

adj

having a quaternary ammonium group.

adj

Composed of four elements.

noun

A quaternary compound.

noun

The Quaternary period or the system of deposits laid down during it.

name

The geological period of the Cenozoic Era immediately following the Tertiary. It is subdivided into the Pleistocene and the Holocene Epochs.

Example Sentences

"the quaternary stress in a pronounced word"
"The available anticholinergics are divided into the tertiary anticholinergics, which cross the blood–brain barrier, and the quaternary anticholinergics, which do not cross the blood–brain barrier."
"It was developed from pancuronium and differs from it only in the nature of the 2 p-atom which is tertiary as distinct from quaternary."
"Unfortunately two of these, 47 and 49, were named anhalotine and peyotine respectively, names already assigned to the quaternary compounds 43 and 45."
"Several quaternary d-pilocarpine derivatives have been prepared in order to investigate the influence of structural changes on the biological activity of this alkaloid."
"Meronyms: Pleistocene, Holocene, Anthropocene, assholocene"

Etymology

Derived from Latin quaternārius (“containing or consisting of four”), from quaternī (“four each”, “four at a time”) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French quaternaire.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: quaternārius, quaternary

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈkwɑ.tɚˌnɛɹ.i/
British English: /kwəˈtɜː.nə.ɹi/

Inflected Forms

quaternaries (plural)

Derived Forms

bisquaternary diquaternary nonquaternary pseudoquaternary quaternarily quaternarization quaternation quaternium negaquaternary quaternarist

Phrases

quaternary ammonium quaternary care quaternary healthcare quaternary industry quaternary moon quaternary number quaternary sector quaternary sector of the economy

Frequently Paired Words

quaternion primary (1st) unary unitary secondary (2nd) binary tertiary (3rd) ternary

Synonyms

Age of Man quartal quartary fourth 4th quaternate four 4 iv tetrad quatern quaternion