Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

quint1

[kwint, kint]
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an organ stop sounding a fifth higher than the corresponding digitals.
  2. Piquet. a sequence of five cards of the same suit, as an ace, king, queen, jack, and ten (quint major), or a king, queen, jack, ten, and nine (quint minor).

Origin of quint1

1520–30; < French quinte (feminine of quint) < Latin quīnta, feminine of quīntus fifth

quint2

[kwint]
noun Informal.
  1. a quintuplet.

Origin of quint2

First recorded in 1930–35; shortened form

quint.

  1. (in prescriptions) fifth.

Origin of quint.

From the Latin word quīntus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for quint

Historical Examples

  • "It would 'a' been luckier if they hadn't hit him at all, Quint," answered Jumbo dryly.

    Oh, You Tex!

    William Macleod Raine

  • Quint, a black-haired youth of twenty, gave a repressed whoop.

    Oh, You Tex!

    William Macleod Raine

  • She paused a moment; then she added: "Quint was much too free."

  • So he goes to his broker, who goes to a big feller, who goes to Quint, who goes to us.

    The Dark Star

    Robert W. Chambers

  • “I thought Captain Quint very interesting,” ventured Ruhannah.

    The Dark Star

    Robert W. Chambers

British Dictionary definitions for quint

quint1

noun
  1. (kwɪnt) an organ stop sounding a note a fifth higher than that normally produced by the key depressed
  2. (kɪnt) piquet a sequence of five cards in the same suit

Word Origin

C17: from French quinte, from Latin quintus fifth

quint2

noun
  1. US and Canadian short for quintuplet Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): quin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for quint

n.

1520s, "a tax of one-fifth," from Middle French quint, from Latin quintus "the fifth," ordinal to quinque "five" (see quinque-). Used in English of various groups of five since 17c. First attested 1935 as a shortening of quintuplet (American English; British English prefers quin); used originally of the Dionne quintuplets, born May 28, 1934, near Callander, Ontario, Canada.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper