quartet
カルテット
解説 Definition
quartet は、4人組、四重奏団、または4つで一組のものという意味です。日本語の「カルテット」は音楽グループを指すことが多いですが、英語では人や物の4つ組にも広く使えます。
A quartet is a group of four people or things, especially four musicians who perform together. It can also mean a piece of music written for four performers or four instrumental parts.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
quart- は quarter「4分の1」や quart と共通する「4」の手掛かりです。quartet は string quartet「弦楽四重奏団」のほか、a quartet of friends のように人や物の4つ組にも使えます。音楽だけに限定せず「4要素で一組」を核に覚えましょう。
Use the beginning quart- as your signal for four, as in quarter. A quartet is therefore a set of four. The most familiar image is a string quartet, usually four musicians performing music written in four parts. However, the word is not limited to music: a writer may describe a quartet of friends, objects, or characters. Keep “four forming one group” as the central idea. This is more precise than group, which gives no number, and different from quarter, which normally means one fourth rather than four members together.
例文
The quartet played a quiet song at the cafe.
そのカルテットはカフェで静かな曲を演奏しました。
A string quartet will perform tonight.
今夜、弦楽四重奏団が演奏します。
The story follows a quartet of friends in a small town.
その物語は小さな町に住む4人組の友人たちを追っています。
quartet の類義語・関連語
quartet の語源・成り立ち Etymology
イタリア語 quartetto から。ラテン語 quartus（第4の）が語根で、4人組の演奏者や楽曲を指す。関連語: quarter（4分の1）、quart（クォート）。「4」を意味する語根 quart- が基本にある。
Quartet entered English through musical usage of Italian quartetto, a diminutive form related to quarto, “fourth.” These forms ultimately derive from Latin quartus, also meaning “fourth.” The same numerical base appears in quarter and quart. The word first became strongly associated with music for four voices or instruments and the performers playing it, then broadened to denote other groups of four people or things.
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