A quad (pronounced KWAHD ) is a unit in a set of something that comes in four units. The term is sometimes used to describe each of the four numbers that constitute an Internet Protocol ( IP ) address. Thus, an Internet address in its numeric form (which is also sometimes called a dot address ) consists of four quads separated by "dots" (periods). For example:
192.68.00.21192, 68, 00, and 21 are each quads of the entire address.
A quad also means "a quarter" in some usages. (A quarter as a U.S. coin or monetary unit means "a quarter of a dollar," and in slang is sometimes called "two bits." However, this usage does not mean two binary bits as used in computers.)
21 Sep 2005