noun
or quar·tette (ˈ)kwȯr|tet, -ȯ(ə)|t-, usu -ed.+V
( -s )
Etymology: alteration (influenced by -et or -ette ) of quartetto
1.
a. : a musical composition or movement in four parts each performed by a single voice or instrument ; specifically : an instrumental piece in sonata form usually for four stringed instruments
composed a quartet
b. : the group of four performers of such four-part music
woodwind quartet
c. : a performance of such a composition
2. : a group consisting of four
a quartet of articles — Times Literary Supplement
in some places no murder trial is complete without its pair or quartet of differing experts — Walter Goodman
3. : any one of the four sets of micromeres cut off in spirally cleaving eggs with determinate cleavage in sequence from the four macromeres produced by the first two cleavage divisions