quadrangle

/ˌkwɑˈdræŋgəl/

Other forms: quadrangles

A quadrangle is a four-sided polygon, like a square or rectangle. On a college campus, the quadrangle could be the grassy rectangular space between dorms, where co-eds throw Frisbees and flirt.

Most college campuses have at least one quadrangle, a rectangular public area made cozy by surrounding buildings. The college quadrangle is almost always referred to as the quad, and this has been true since the 1820s when it became popular slang at Oxford University. The Late Latin quadrangulum, or "four-sided figure," inspired the word quadrangle.

Definitions of quadrangle

1. noun

   a four-sided polygon
   synonyms: quadrilateral, tetragon

   types:

   parallelogram

   a quadrilateral whose opposite sides are both parallel and equal in length

   trapezium

   a quadrilateral with no parallel sides

   trapezoid

   a quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides

   diamond, lozenge, rhomb, rhombus

   a parallelogram with four equal sides; an oblique-angled equilateral parallelogram

   rhomboid

   a parallelogram with adjacent sides of unequal lengths; an oblique-angled parallelogram with only the opposite sides equal

   rectangle

   a parallelogram with four right angles

   type of:

   polygon, polygonal shape

   a closed plane figure bounded by straight sides
2. noun

   a rectangular area surrounded on all sides by buildings
   synonyms: quad

   type of:

   area

   a part of a structure having some specific characteristic or function