quartet

Where does the word "quartet" come from? It comes from Italian quattro, passing through Italian before entering English (1790s).

Quartet’s story begins in Italian: quattro meant “four.” Four, the root behind a group of four performers. Within Italian, it grew into quartetto by 1700s. Settled in Italian musical vocabulary for a four-part ensemble. It reached English by 1790s as quartet. Haydn established the string quartet in the 1770s. Today, quartet means a group of four musicians, or a piece of music written for four performers.

1. Stage 1 · Italian · medieval quattro "four", four, the root behind a group of four performers.
2. Stage 2 · Italian · 1700s quartetto "a group of four musicians", settled in Italian musical vocabulary for a four-part ensemble.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1790s quartet "a group of four musicians or performers", Haydn established the string quartet in the 1770s.