Dictionary

quint en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /kwɛ̃/ A fencing term
• /kwɪnt/ A musical or piquet term, or a quintuplet
• [kʰw̥ɪnt] A musical or piquet term, or a quintuplet

Etymology

* From Middle French quint, from Latin quīntus. Doublet of quintus. * (firefighting vehicle): In reference to its five functions: pump, water tank, fire hose, aerial device, and ground ladders.

Meanings

1. An interval of one fifth.
2. The E string of a violin.
3. In piquet, a sequence of five playing cards of the same suit; equivalent to a straight flush in poker.
   • The discard was, in fact, an experiment in bluff. Carrados might have held a quint and fourteen kings for all the opposing hand disclosed. 1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
4. (US, informal) a quin or quintuplet.
   • Two days after Mrs. Shirley Ann Lawson's four girls and one boy were delivered in New Zealand, another set of quints was born to Mrs. Karin Olsen in Falun, Sweden. 1965, LIFE, volume 59, number 7, page 24:
5. A vehicle used by firefighters that combines the capabilities of a fire engine and a fire truck, having the ability to provide vertical access as well as pump water to fight a fire.
6. quinte; the fifth fencer in parrying or attacking position.

Forms