Quad
At Oxford, a quad is a quadrangle: an enclosed courtyard, usually with a lawn, surrounded by college or University buildings. Most colleges are built around several quads, and the rooms, chapel, hall and library open onto them by staircases rather than corridors.
In practice
Quads are named and used as addresses inside a college: Front Quad, Back Quad, Old Quad, or a name of their own such as Tom Quad at Christ Church. In many colleges the lawn is for looking at, not walking on; only fellows, or everyone on certain days, may cross the grass, and porters enforce it. Cambridge uses "court" for the same idea, and the difference is a reliable way to tell which university someone attended.
Why it matters to newcomers
When a college invitation says "drinks in the Fellows' Garden, via Back Quad", follow the paths round the edge. Many colleges open their quads to visitors at set hours, some with a charge, and the University's own Schools Quadrangle beside the Bodleian is open to all.
Related
- Scout - who looks after the staircases around a quad
- The Bodleian - built around the Schools Quadrangle
- Rad Cam - which stands in a square, not a quad
Source: University of Oxford: colleges.