Four corners means from four directions, North, South, East, West.

In geography, the four cardinal directions are north, east, south and west. North and south are oriented toward the respective poles of the Earth. The Earth's rotation defines the orientation of east and west.

The four cardinal directions correspond to the following degrees of a compass: North: 0 (= 360) degrees, East: 90 degrees, South: 180 degrees and West: 270 degrees.

In mathematics, cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four principal directions or points of the compass in a plane.

Europeans in the 16th century divided the world into four continents:
• Africa
• America
• Asia
• Europe

During this time, nothing was known of Antarctica or Australia, the other two land masses which we consider continents today. Each of the four continents was seen to represent its quadrant of the world—Europe in the north, Asia in the east, Africa in the south, and America in the west. This division fit the Renaissance sensibilities of the time, which also divided the world into four seasons, four classical elements, four cardinal directions, four classical virtues, etc.

In 1603, Cesare Ripa published a book of emblems for the use of artists and artisans who might be called upon to depict allegorical figures. He covered an astonishingly wide variety of fields, and his work was reprinted many times. It was still being brought up-to-date in the 18th century. The illustrations reveal fixed Eurocentric perceptions of the nature of the "four corners of the world."

The American millionaire philanthropist James Hazen Hyde, who inherited a majority share in Equitable Life Assurance Society and formed a collection of allegorical prints illustrating the Four Continents that are now at the New-York Historical Society; Hyde's drawings and a supporting collection of sets of porcelain table ornaments and other decorative arts illustrating the Four Continents were shared by various New York City museums.