quartile
noun
quar·tile ˈkwȯr-ˌtī(-ə)l 
-tᵊl
: any of the three values that divide the items of a frequency distribution into four classes with each containing one fourth of the total population
also : any one of the four classes
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A quartile is a quarter of a specific group that has been tested or evaluated in specific ways. The first quartile is the one that scores highest and the fourth quartile scores lowest. For achievement and proficiency tests, the first quartile is the place to be; for blood pressure or cholesterol, the third quartile is healthier.
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Among the states, California is considerably below average, and sometimes in the lowest quartile, in a number of national assessments of math proficiency. 
Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2022 Tyson mentioned that after the release of the state’s current ILEARN results, IPS’ further analysis showed that Paramount schools were in the top quartile of schools performing well on the math and reading ILEARN tests this past school year. Caroline Beck, The Indianapolis Star, 26 Aug. 2022 Of course, one is the rate of return, especially among the top quartile of performers. Jacob Wolinsky, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022 The top-quartile public listing during this second quarter closed at a $338.3 million valuation, which is 72.2% lower than the high of $1.2 billion in the first quarter of this year. Lucy Brewster, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2022 Conversely, McKinsey & Company reports that businesses in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to succeed financially, and executive teams with gender diversity are 21% likelier to outperform their peers. Avani Desai, Forbes, 13 June 2022 Businesses in the top quartile for ethnic and cultural diversity among their executives in 2019 were 36% more likely to have higher than average profits. Charisse Jones, USA TODAY, 1 June 2022 Our analysis shows that deals from top-quartile vintages raised around the global financial crisis generated a 61% IRR. Pavel Ermoline, Fortune, 5 July 2022 The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimates that, among workers in the lowest quartile by income, the 12-month moving average of median annual wage growth was 6.4% in April versus a year earlier. Justin Lahart, WSJ, 24 May 2022 See More
Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2022 Tyson mentioned that after the release of the state’s current ILEARN results, IPS’ further analysis showed that Paramount schools were in the top quartile of schools performing well on the math and reading ILEARN tests this past school year. Caroline Beck, The Indianapolis Star, 26 Aug. 2022 Of course, one is the rate of return, especially among the top quartile of performers. Jacob Wolinsky, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022 The top-quartile public listing during this second quarter closed at a $338.3 million valuation, which is 72.2% lower than the high of $1.2 billion in the first quarter of this year. Lucy Brewster, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2022 Conversely, McKinsey & Company reports that businesses in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to succeed financially, and executive teams with gender diversity are 21% likelier to outperform their peers. Avani Desai, Forbes, 13 June 2022 Businesses in the top quartile for ethnic and cultural diversity among their executives in 2019 were 36% more likely to have higher than average profits. Charisse Jones, USA TODAY, 1 June 2022 Our analysis shows that deals from top-quartile vintages raised around the global financial crisis generated a 61% IRR. Pavel Ermoline, Fortune, 5 July 2022 The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimates that, among workers in the lowest quartile by income, the 12-month moving average of median annual wage growth was 6.4% in April versus a year earlier. Justin Lahart, WSJ, 24 May 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
International Scientific Vocabulary, from Latin quartus
First Known Use
1879, in the meaning defined above