2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Quadrature  \Quad"ra*ture\,  n.  [L.  quadratura:  cf  F.  quadrature. 
  See  {Quadrate},  a.] 
  1.  (Math.)  The  act  of  squaring;  the  finding  of  a  square 
  having  the  same  area  as  some  given  curvilinear  figure;  as 
  the  quadrature  of  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. 
 
  2.  A  quadrate;  a  square.  --Milton. 
 
  3.  (Integral  Calculus)  The  integral  used  in  obtaining  the 
  area  bounded  by  a  curve;  hence  the  definite  integral  of 
  the  product  of  any  function  of  one  variable  into  the 
  differential  of  that  variable. 
 
  4.  (Astron.)  The  position  of  one  heavenly  body  in  respect  to 
  another  when  distant  from  it  90[deg],  or  a  quarter  of  a 
  circle,  as  the  moon  when  at  an  equal  distance  from  the 
  points  of  conjunction  and  opposition. 
 
  {Quadrature  of  the  moon}  (Astron.),  the  position  of  the  moon 
  when  one  half  of  the  disk  is  illuminated. 
 
  {Quadrature  of  an  orbit}  (Astron.),  a  point  in  an  orbit  which 
  is  at  either  extremity  of  the  latus  rectum  drawn  through 
  the  empty  focus  of  the  orbit. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  quadrature 
  n  :  the  construction  of  a  square  having  the  same  area  as  some 
  other  figure 

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