▪ I. quartan, a. and n.
(ˈkwɔːtən)
Forms: 4–7 quartaine, 4, 7 -ain, 5–6 -ayn(e; 4–6 quarteyn(e, (4 -en, 5 -ein); 5–7 quartane, (6 cart-), 6– quartan. See also quartern, a.
[Orig. a. F. (fièvre) quartaine, ad. L. (febris) quartān-a fem. of quartān-us, f. quartus fourth. The mod. form is directly based on the L.]
A. adj.
1. Path. Of a fever or ague: Characterized by the occurrence of a paroxysm every fourth (in mod. reckoning, every third) day.
In early use placed after the n., as in F.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 11828 He..þar-wit had feuer quartain. a 1400 Stockh. Med. MS. ii. 954 in Anglia XVIII. 330 Ageyn feuerys quarteyn It is medicyn souereyn. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 520 The appellaunt..was sore vexyd with a feuer quarteyne. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health cxxxix. 51 A fever quartayne..doth infeste a man every thyrd day, that is to say two dayes whole and one sycke. 1570 Googe Pop. Kingd. iv. 52 b, The quartan ague and such other sicknesse greate. a 1612 Harington Salerne's Regim. (1634) 25 Cow flesh, Harts flesh,..doe engender fever Quartaines. 1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 73 Taken with wine, it drives away quartan agues. 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos (1877) II. xxxiii. 339 Quartan ague had seized on the enfeebled frame of her father. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 670 A quartan fever, which can with difficulty be shaken off. |
† 2. Belonging to the fourth place or degree. Obs.
| 1794 E. Darwin Zoon. (1801) IV. 185 The tertian or quartan links of associate motions are actuated by direct sympathy. |
B. n. A (or the) quartan ague or fever.
double quartan, one in which there are two sets of paroxysms, each recurring every fourth (third) day.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 249 Porcius..slowȝ hym self for noye and sorwe of a double quarteyn. 1450–80 tr. Secreta Secret. 32 He shalle haue no dowte of flewme..and he shalle haue no quarteyne. c 1491 Caxton Chast. Goddes Chyld. 23 Of this quarteyn some men falle in to another feuer that is cleped double quartein. 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. ciii. §2. 170 A roote or two..is a good remedie against old quartaines. 1633 Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. (1851) 147 The quartan hath of old been justly styled the shame of physicians. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Spider, The Spider it self will cure Quartans. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 607 The tertian [has] a longer paroxysm and a shorter interval than the quartan. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases i. 25 In quartans and tertians, but especially in the former, sporulating rosette forms are seen occasionally. |
| fig. 1590 Nashe Pasquil's Apol. i. B iij, He that hath such a dubble quartane of curiositie..will prooue passing treacherous. |
▪ II. quartan
see quartern n.2 5.