Etymology

Noun

1. A geometric shape with four angles and four straight sides.
2. A courtyard which is quadrangular.
   • 1959, John Knowles, A Separate Peace, chapter 7,

     I looked up from my desk and saw that suddenly there were big flakes twirling down into the quadrangle, settling on the carefully pruned shrubbery bordering the crosswalks, the three elms still holding many of their leaves, the still-green lawns.

3. The buildings forming the border of such a courtyard.
   • 1959, John Knowles, A Separate Peace, chapter 13,

     The quadrangle surrounding the Far Common was never considered absolutely essential to the Devon School.