quadrilateral refers to a shape that has four sides. quad means four; lateral means side.
A quadrilateral has the following characteristics.
1) 4 sides or 4 edges
2) 4 vertices or 4 corners
3) the interior angles add up to 360 degrees.
It also is 2-dimensional, all sides are straight, and its lines close.
Examples of quadrilateral shapes are:
1) square
2) rectangle
3) rhombus
4) parallelogram
5) trapezoid
6) kite