quarrel
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkwɒɹ(ə)l/
enpr: kwôrʹəl
ipa: /ˈkwɔɹəl/
enpr: kwŏrʹəl
ipa: /ˈkwɑɹəl/
rhymes: -ɒɹəl
Forms: form: quarrels
Etymology: PIE word
 *kʷetwóres
From Middle English quarrel (“bolt for an arbalest, crossbow, or siege engine; (figurative) seductive glance, temptation to sin; needle (possibly one square in cross-section); small (perhaps square-shaped) opening in window tracery; a cushion (perhaps square-shaped)”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman quarel, quarele, quarrel, Middle French quarrel, and Old French quarel, quarrel, carrel (“crossbow bolt; floor tile or paving stone (rectangular- or square-shaped); small glass pane for windows”) (modern French carreau (“crossbow bolt; a tile; windowpane; a square”)), from Late Latin quarellus, quadrellus (“crossbow bolt; paving stone; a tile”), from Latin quadrum (“a square; square section; regular shape or form”) + -ellus (variant of -ulus (suffix forming diminutive nouns, indicating small size or youth)). Quadrum is ultimately derived from quattuor (“four”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (“four”). Doublet of carreau.
Senses: examples: text: Twanged the ſtring, out flew the quarell long, / And through the ſubtile aire did ſinging pas, / It hit the knight the buckles rich among, / Wherewith his pretious girdle faſt'ned was, / It bruſed them and pearſt his hawberke ſtrong, / Some little blood downe trickled on the gras; [...]
ref: 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Seuenth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC, stanza 103, page 137:
text: Here be two arblasts, comrade, with windlaces and quarrells—to the barbican with you, and see you drive each bolt through a Saxon brain.
ref: 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XIV, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 281:
text: The small cross-bow, called the arbalet or arbalest, is said to have been invented by the Sicilians. It was carried by the foot-soldiers, and when used was charged with a quarrel or bar-bolt, that is, a small arrow with a flat head, one of which occasioned the death of Harold [Godwinson] at the battle of Hastings, [...]
ref: 1829 January–July, [Edward Augustus Kendall], “Illustrations of History. Archery.”, in The Olio; or Museum of Entertainment, volume III, London: […] Shackell and Carfrae [for] Joseph Shackell, […], →OCLC, page 174, column 2:
text: "What was that?" he asked, as a hissing, sharp-drawn voice seemed to whisper in his ear. The steersman smiled, and pointed with his foot to where a short heavy cross-bow quarrel stuck quivering in the boards.
ref: 1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “How the Yellow Cog Fought the Two Rover Galleys”, in The White Company […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 71:
topics: archery
government
hobbies
lifestyle
martial-arts
military
politics
sports
war
synonyms: word: carrel
word: quarry
glosses: An arrow or bolt for a crossbow or an arbalest (“a late, large type of crossbow”), traditionally with the head square in its cross section.
topics: architecture
synonyms: quarry
glosses: A diamond- or square-shaped piece of glass forming part of a lattice window.
topics: architecture
synonyms: word: quarry
glosses: A square tile; a quarry tile; (uncountable) such tiles collectively.
glosses: A cutting tool or chisel with a diamond- or square-shaped end.
topics: architecture
glosses: A small square-shaped opening in window tracery.
Related terms: quarl
quarry