α. 1600s– quarter cleft, 1800s– quarter clift (Irish English); Scottish pre-1700 quarter clift.
β. 1600s quarter cliffe, 1600s 1800s quarter cliff.
quarter cleftn.adj.
/ˈkwɔːtə ˌklɛft/, U.S. /ˈkwɔrdər ˌklɛft/ A. n.
1. Wood cleft in four; quartered wood; (also) one of the pieces produced by cleaving in four.
ΚΠ
1538–9 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1907) VII. 212 viij dosane of quarter cliftis to be spakis to the gun quhelis.
1641 H. Best Rural Econ. Yorks. (1857) 15 The best wood for barres is the willow..and soone as they are peel'd wee carry them into some house..; and then doe wee gette the biggest of them riven with iron wedges into quarter-cliffe.
1887 Sc. Leader 21 Sept. 6 A large stick known in Tipperary as a ‘quarter-clift’.
2007 E. Agate Fencing vii, in handbooks.btcv.org.uk 30 Mar. (O.E.D. Archive) Using a cleaving-brake to hold the quarter cleft securely, a froe and mallet are used to rive it into pales.
2. A ‘half-cracked’ person, one who is foolish or crazy. Now Irish English (northern).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > slight madness > person
touched1625
three-quarter cleft1830
quarter cleft1831
mattoid1891
borderland1894
borderline case1907
wackadoo1979
wackadoodle1991
1831 Fraser's Mag. 4 327 A mere nincompoop, or quarter-cliff or what else you will that implies feebleness of intellect.
1856 Chambers's Jrnl. 5 139 [Ulster Proverbs, etc.] An eccentric person..is said..to ‘want a square of being round’. The next degree of aberration constitutes a ‘quarter clift’.
1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Quarter cleft, a crazy person.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 66/1 Quarter clift, a person who is a bit of a fool, a simpleton.
B. adj.
Of timber: cut from the centre to the edge, cut into quarter clefts (see also quot. 1850).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [adjective] > cut or sawn > cut or sawn in specific manner
quarter cleft1666
listed1842
through-and-through-sawn1870
half-timber1874
rotary-cut1877
quarter-sawn1878
mill-run1881
flat-sawn1882
plain-sawed1888
plain-sawn1895
rift-sawn1895
radial sawn1958
radial sawed1972
1666 Exact Abridgm. Statutes from Beginning Magna Charta 261 Every Tall-shid marked one, being round-bodied shall contain 16 inches and an half in compass, being half-round, 19 and quarter cleft, 18 inches and an half.
a1690 S. Jeake Compl. Body Arithm. (1701) ii. i. 69 (table) Round. Half Round. Quarter cleft. Length.
1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality (Dublin ed.) V. xvii. 272 His long Staff of quarter cleft Oak.
1850 J. Ogilvie Imperial Dict. Quarter-cleft Rod, a rod cleft at one end, the cleft extending to one-fourth of its length.
1882 J. Ogilvie Imperial Dict. Quarter-cleft, said of timber cut from the centre to the circumference.
1992 C. Hardyment Home Comfort xii. 195 Then rollers.., ideally made of well-seasoned quarter-cleft maple or a similar hardwood, were fitted.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1538