E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Quarters.
Residence or place of abode; as, winter quarters, the place where an army lodges during the winter months. We say “this quarter of the town,” meaning this district or part; the French speak of the Latin Quartier—i.e. the district or part of Paris where the medical schools, etc., are located; the Belgians speak of quartiers à louer, lodgings to let; and bachelors in England often say, “Come to my quarters”—i.e. apartments. All these are from the French verb écarter (to set apart).
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“There shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen … in all thy quarters [any of thy houses].”—Exodus xiii. 2.
