The word “quarter” refers to one-fourth of something. For example, if you and three other people split a pizza, each person will get to eat a quarter of it. One-fourth is 25 percent of something. The term has its roots in Latin and comes from the word “quartus.” Its earliest use was when prisoners were dismembered and the quarters were used to divide their bodies.
In finance, a quarter refers to one-fourth of a year. Generally, quarters are represented by the letter “Q,” as in Q1 for the first quarter, or “Q2” for the second quarter. Quarters are important for investors as most financial reporting and dividend payments occur on a quarterly basis. Not all companies use calendar quarters, however, and many do not pay out their dividends evenly throughout the year.
A quarter past one is a half-hour after a quarter-hour. The minute hand is pointed at 60 tick marks on the outside of a clock. A quarter past two is the same as one-half-hour before twelve. If a person wants to tell someone about an exact time, he or she can use the quarter-past-three-hour-half-hour. A quarter-past twelve is the same as 11:45 and twelve is equal to one-half hour before noon.
