quarterly

The word "quarterly" is built upon the concept of division into four, tracing its lineage to the Latin quartus, meaning "fourth." This root passed into English via Old French as "quarter," denoting a fourth part, especially of a year. The adjectival and adverbial suffix "-ly," of Germanic origin, was appended to indicate something occurring every such fourth part. Thus, the literal construction "in the manner of a fourth part" evolved logically into the modern sense of an event or publication recurring every three months, or one-fourth of a year.

Structure: quarter (fourth part) + ly (adjective/adverb suffix) - quarter: From Latin quartarius (a fourth part), via Old French quartier. In this word, it functions as the core root meaning "one-fourth." - ly: From Old English -līc (having the form or quality of). In this word, it functions as a suffix forming adjectives and adverbs meaning "occurring at intervals of."