QUATERNARY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Quaternary mean? 

• QUATERNARY (noun)
  The noun QUATERNARY has 2 senses:

1. last 2 million years

2. the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one

  Familiarity information: QUATERNARY used as a noun is rare.

• QUATERNARY (adjective)
  The adjective QUATERNARY has 2 senses:

1. consisting of or especially arranged in sets of four

2. coming next after the third and just before the fifth in position or time or degree or magnitude

  Familiarity information: QUATERNARY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• QUATERNARY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Last 2 million years

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

Age of Man; Quaternary; Quaternary period

Instance hypernyms:

geological period; period (a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed)

Meronyms (parts of "Quaternary"):

Holocene; Holocene epoch; Recent; Recent epoch (approximately the last 10,000 years)

Glacial epoch; Pleistocene; Pleistocene epoch (from two million to 11 thousand years ago; extensive glaciation of the northern hemisphere; the time of human evolution)

Holonyms ("Quaternary" is a part of...):

Age of Mammals; Cenozoic; Cenozoic era (approximately the last 63 million years)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The cardinal number that is the sum of three and one

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

4; four; foursome; IV; Little Joe; quadruplet; quartet; quatern; quaternary; quaternion; quaternity; tetrad

Hypernyms ("quaternary" is a kind of...):

digit; figure (one of the elements that collectively form a system of numeration)

• QUATERNARY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Consisting of or especially arranged in sets of four

Synonyms:

quaternary; quaternate

Context example:

a quaternary compound

Similar:

multiple (having or involving or consisting of more than one part or entity or individual)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Coming next after the third and just before the fifth in position or time or degree or magnitude

Synonyms:

4th; fourth; quaternary

Context example:

the quaternary period of geologic time extends from the end of the tertiary period to the present

Similar:

ordinal (being or denoting a numerical order in a series)

 Context examples 

Ipratropium is a synthetic quaternary ammonium compound and a competitive muscarinic acetylcholine (Ach) receptor antagonist.

(Ipratropium/Albuterol, NCI Thesaurus)

An interval of the Quaternary period, from 1.8 million years before present to 10 thousand years before present.

(Pleistocene epoch, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

A synthetic quaternary ammonium anticholinergic agent with antimuscarinic activity.

(Glycopyrrolate, NCI Thesaurus)

Researchers proposed solving this problem by encapsulating a traditional artificial leaf inside a transparent capsule made of a semi-permeable membrane of quaternary ammonium resin and filled with water.

(Artificial Leaves Convert CO2 to Fuel 10 Times More Efficient Than Nature, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The bromide salt form of methscopolamine, a quaternary ammonium derivative of scopolamine with anticholinergic properties.

(Methscopolamine Bromide, NCI Thesaurus)

The formation of disulfide linkages between cysteine residues helps to stabilize the tertiary and quaternary structure of proteins.

(Biosynthesis of Cysteine Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

An orally available bromide salt form of butylscopolamine, a quaternary ammonium derivative of the alkaloid scopolamine, with anticholinergic property.

(Butylscopolamine Bromide, NCI Thesaurus)

The chloride salt form of acetylcholine, a synthetic, quaternary amino alcohol with cholinergic properties.

(Acetylcholine Chloride, NCI Thesaurus)

A synthetic quaternary ammonium base derivative, parasympathomimetic Bethanechol is a slowly hydrolyzed muscarinic agonist with no nicotinic effects.

(Bethanechol Chloride, NCI Thesaurus)

The bromide salt form of demecarium, a quaternary ammonium compound and a long-acting cholinesterase inhibitor with parasympathomimetic activity.

(Demecarium Bromide, NCI Thesaurus)