quaternion
/kwɑˈtɜɹniɑn/noun
quaternion is spelled Q-U-A-T-E-R-N-I-O-N: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 115,751st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, quaternion means “A group or set of four people or things” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of quaternion is quaternions.
How many letters and syllables are in quaternion?
| Letters | 10: Q-U-A-T-E-R-N-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 15 million words; the 115,751st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is quaternion?
Quaternion appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 115,751st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce quaternion?
- UK /kwəˈtɜːni.ən/
- US /kwɑˈtɜɹniɑn/
- US /kwə-/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of quaternion
- quaternions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does quaternion mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A group or set of four people or things.
- 2
A word of four syllables.
- 3
A type of four-dimensional hypercomplex number consisting of a real part and three imaginary parts (real multiples of distinct, independent square roots of −1 denoted by i, j and k); commonly used in vector mathematics and as an alternative to matrix algebra in calculating the rotation of three-dimensional objects.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Quaternion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a four-dimensional hypercomplex number:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | quaternion |
| German | Quaternion |
| Portuguese | quaternião |
| Spanish | cuaternión |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does quaternion come from?
From Middle English quaterniǒun, from Late Latin quaterniō, from quaternī (“four each”) + -iō, from quater (“four times”). Doublet of kern. The mathematics sense was coined by Irish mathematician and astronomer William Rowan Hamilton in 1843.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).