quintus

Forms

quīntus (feminine quīnta, neuter quīntum); first/second-declension numeral^[1] Plautus has the older form quīnctus.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷenkʷto-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷtós (“fifth”), from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe (“five”).^[4][1][5] De Vaan explains the Latin form from ⟨*kʷinkto-⟩: the ⟨k⟩ became a spirant, the vowel was lengthened before it, and the spirant was lost, giving ⟨quīntus⟩; the long ⟨ī⟩ then spread to the cardinal quīnque (“five”).^[4] The older form ⟨quīnctus⟩ survives in the name ⟨Quīnctius⟩.^[2][3] Cognate with Oscan pomtis (“five times”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Persa: if treachery and embezzlement are banished from the city, then “fourth envy, fifth ambition” (quīnta ambitiō).^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is the fifth, often by inclusive reckoning where we would say the fourth.^[2] Cicero uses quīntum genus of Aristotle's fifth element, from which the stars and minds are made, and Virgil quīnta (day) of the unlucky fifth of the month.^[2] Varro's cum quīntō is a fivefold yield, and quīnta pars is a fifth part, as in Cato, also as a share taken in tax.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “fifth”.^[6] As a first name, Quīntus, usually written Q., was given to a fifth-born son.^[2][1] English quint (mid-15th century), a tax of one fifth, comes from it through Old French.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^[2][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato of a fifth part.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the fifth element.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of the fifth day.^[2][5]
• mid-15th century – English quint.^[7]

Meanings

Numeral

1. Fifth, quīntum genus, the fifth element.^[2][1][6]
2. (with diēs or hōra understood) The fifth day or hour.^[2]
3. quīnta pars: a fifth part, cum quīntō, fivefold.^[2]

Word family

• quinta
• quintānus
• quinticeps
• superquintus

Related words

• quīnque
• Quīntus
• quīntāna
• English quint

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com