quarrel
pronunciation
How to pronounce quarrel in British English:
UK [ˈkwɒrəl]
How to pronounce quarrel in American English:
US [ˈkwɑːrəl]
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- Noun:
- an angry dispute
- an arrow that is shot from a crossbow; has a head with four edges
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- Verb:
- have a disagreement over something
Word Origin
- quarrel
- quarrel: English has two words quarrel, one of them now little more than a historical memory. Quarrel ‘argument’ [14] goes back via Old French querele to Latin querēla, a derivative of querī ‘complain’. Also based on querī was querulus ‘complaining’, from which English gets querulous [15]. Quarrel ‘crossbow arrow’ [13] comes via Old French quarel from Vulgar Latin *quadrellus, a diminutive form of late Latin quadrus ‘square’ (the quarrel had a ‘square’ head). And quadrus was based on the stem quadr- ‘four’, source of English quadrangle, quadrant, quadruped, etc.=> querulous; quarter
- quarrel (n.1)
- "angry dispute," mid-14c., originally "ground for complaint," from Old French querele "matter, concern, business; dispute, controversy" (Modern French querelle), from Latin querella "complaint, accusation; lamentation," from queri "to complain, lament." Replaced Old English sacan. Sense of "contention between persons" is from 1570s.
- quarrel (n.2)
- "square-headed bolt for a crossbow," mid-13c., from Old French quarel, carrel "bolt, arrow," from Vulgar Latin *quadrellus, diminutive of Late Latin quadrus (adj.) "square," related to quattuor "four" (see four). Now-archaic sense of "square or diamond-shaped plane of glass" first recorded mid-15c.
- quarrel (v.)
- late 14c., "to raise an objection;" 1520s as "to contend violently, to fall out," from quarrel (n.1) and in part from Old French quereler (Modern French quereller). Related: Quarrelled; quarrelling.
Example
- 1. They quarrel constantly , he has an affair .
- 2. This is a family who often quarrel among themselves .
- 3. That quarrel will eventually be resolved .
- 4. It is the quarrel between the religious and the humanist attitudes towards life .
- 5. Do you sometimes mourn a good friend whom you 've lost through a quarrel ?