quartet

A quartet is a group of four, and it is often used for music. You might hear about a string quartet playing in a concert hall or a barbershop quartet singing on a street corner. The word can also be used more widely for four people or four things that belong together, such as a quartet of friends or a quartet of paintings. It often suggests that the four parts form one whole.

The word "quartet" most commonly refers to a group of four performers, especially musicians. This could be a vocal quartet with four singers, an instrumental quartet like a string quartet with two violins, a viola, and a cello, or a jazz quartet with players such as a saxophonist, pianist, bassist, and drummer. In this sense, the word points to four parts working together as one group.

The word is also used more broadly for any group of four people or things that are connected or treated as one set. You might read about a quartet of paintings in a gallery, a quartet of detectives on a case, or a quartet of books in a series. In these uses, the focus is simply on the four parts belonging together.

The word comes from the Italian "quartetto," which means "group of four." It is still strongly linked with music, especially in phrases like "string quartet," but it also works in general writing and speech for other groups of four. Whether the subject is musical, artistic, or social, the idea stays the same: four connected parts seen as a single group.