Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

quinary

[kwahy-nuh-ree]
See more synonyms for quinary on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. pertaining to or consisting of five.
  2. arranged in fives.
  3. of, relating to, or noting a numerical system based on the number 5.
Show More
noun, plural qui·na·ries.
  1. a number in a quinary system.
Show More

Origin of quinary

1595–1605; < Latin quīnārius, equivalent to quīn(ī) five each + -ārius -ary
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for quinary

Historical Examples

  • Subordinate to either one of these the quinary may and often does appear.

    The Number Concept

    Levi Leonard Conant

  • In its structure the quinary is the simplest, the most primitive, of the natural systems.

    The Number Concept

    Levi Leonard Conant

  • Associated words: quinary, quintuple, quintuplicate, quincunx.

    Putnam's Word Book

    Louis A. Flemming

  • In the Mollusca circle two classes are still wanting to complete the quinary arrangement of that sub-kingdom.

  • The foregoing examples will show with considerable fulness the wide dispersion of the quinary scale.

    The Number Concept

    Levi Leonard Conant

British Dictionary definitions for quinary

quinary

adjective
  1. consisting of fives or by fives
  2. fifth in a series
  3. (of a number system) having a base of five
Show More
noun plural -ries
  1. a set of five
Show More

Word Origin

C17: from Latin quīnārius containing five, from quīnī five each
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 quinary

adj.

c.1600, from Latin quinarius "consisting of five, containing five," from quint "five each" (see five).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper