quartet

noun

quar·​tet kwȯr-ˈtet 

variants or less commonly quartette

1

: a musical composition for four instruments or voices

2

: a group or set of four

especially : the performers of a quartet

Examples of quartet in a Sentence

He is a member of a jazz quartet.

a string quartet by Beethoven

The author wrote a quartet of novels about the same character.

Recent Examples on the Web

Few musical rites of passage are as exhilarating as the big comeback album, and Amor Elefante’s Amigas finds the quartet, now with new member Lucila Pivetta on bass, beaming with joy at the chance of reconnecting. —Ernesto Lechner, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2025

Seeing Nirvana fill a quartet of rungs is not unusual. —Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025

Now Denver faces a four-game road trip against a quartet of Eastern Conference playoff teams. —Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 23 Feb. 2025

The ensemble-in-residence is the all-woman multi-racial Excelsis Percussion quartet, based in New York City and consisting of Marcelina Suchocka from Poland, Mariana Ramirez from Mexico, Aya Kaminaguchi from Japan and Britton-René Collins from the United States. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 23 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Italian quartetto, from quarto fourth, from Latin quartus — more at quart

First Known Use

1773, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing quartet

• barbershop quartet
• string quartet

Rhymes for quartet

• abet
• asset
• baguette
• banquette
• barbette
• beget
• beset
• brevet
• briquette
• brunet
• brunette
• burette

Kids Definition

quartet

noun

quar·​tet

variants also quartette

kwȯr-ˈtet 

1

a

: a musical composition for four instruments or voices

b

: the performers of a quartet

2

: a group or set of four