quincunx
Americannoun
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an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
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Botany. an overlapping arrangement of five petals or leaves, in which two are interior, two are exterior, and one is partly interior and partly exterior.
noun
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a group of five objects arranged in the shape of a rectangle with one at each of the four corners and the fifth in the centre
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botany a quincuncial arrangement of sepals or petals in the bud
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astrology an aspect of 150° between two planets
Etymology
Origin of quincunx
1640–50; < Latin: five twelfths ( quinc-, variant of quīnque- quinque- + uncia twelfth; see ounce 1); originally a Roman coin worth five twelfths of an as and marked with a quincunx of spots
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was Letitia's inheritance that allowed her husband to refurbish his ancestral home, Quincunx House in Essex, to its former splendor.
From Time Magazine Archive
For all its vibrancy, The Quincunx occasionally seems to be too much of a good thing.
From Time Magazine Archive
Not surprisingly, a like symmetry turns up in The Quincunx itself.
From Time Magazine Archive
Four young women eventually arrive at Quincunx House, none of them found suitable for the post by Mrs. Iveson.
From Time Magazine Archive
Quincunx, kwin′kungks, n. an arrangement of five things, so as to occupy each corner and the centre of a square, esp. of trees or plants.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
