Quad'ra-tūre, n.

(53), n. [Fr. quadrature, Sp. cuadratura, It. & Lat. quadratura. See QUADRATE, a.]

1. The act of squaring; the finding of a square having the same area as a given curvilinear figure, as a circle; the operation of finding an expression for the area of a figure bounded wholly or in part by a curved line, as by a curve, two ordinates, and the axis of abscissas. Math. Dict.
2. A quadrate; a square. Milton.
3. (Astron.) The position of one heavenly body in respect to another, when distant from it ninety degrees, or a quarter of the circle, as the moon, when at an equal distance from the points of conjunction and opposition.