Etymologically
Log in

quincunx

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 20:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkʷiːŋ.kuːŋks], [ˈkʷiːŋ.kʊŋks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷiŋ.kuŋks], [ˈkʷiŋ.kuŋks][1]

Forms

quīncū̆nx m (genitive quīncū̆ncis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quīnque (“five”) + ūncia (“twelfth part”), literally “five twelfths”.[2][3][1] De Vaan explains it as quīnqu- with ūncia;[3] the numeral goes back to Proto-Italic *kwenkwe (“five”) and Proto-Indo-European *penkwe (“five”).[3] Wiktionary connects the name with a Republican bronze coin worth five twelfths of an as that bore five dots.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Caesar,[4] who in the Gallic War describes pits dug in slanting rows arranged in quincuncem, like the five on a die.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is five twelfths of an as:[2][5] Horace has schoolboys taught to divide the as, asking what is left when an ounce is taken from a quincunx.[2][6] It was also five twelfths of a pound in weight and of a iūgerum in land, both in Columella,[2] five cyathi of a sextārius in Martial,[2] and five twelfths of an inheritance in Pliny the Younger.[7][8] As a rate of interest it was five twelfths of one per cent a month, five per cent a year, as in Persius.[2][6]

The arrangement of five points like the five on a die gave a name to rows of trees planted that way,[2] and Caesar uses it of pits set out in this pattern.[2] British medieval writers used it for five ounces and, in heraldry, for the quincunx figure.[9] English quincunx was borrowed in the 1640s, first in astrology.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of pits dug in a five-point pattern.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of five twelfths of an as.[2][4]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of weight and land measure.[2][4]
  • 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of interest at five per cent.[2][4]
  • 1640s – Borrowed into English as quincunx.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Five twelfths of an as.[2][5]
  2. Five twelfths of a pound (in weight), of a sextārius (five cyathi), or of a iūgerum.[2][8]
  3. Five twelfths of anything, such as an inheritance.[2][7]
  4. Interest at five twelfths of one per cent a month, five per cent a year.[2][6]
  5. An arrangement of five points like the five on a die, especially of trees; a quincunx.[2][5]

Word family

  • quincunciālis

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com