Dictionary.com
definitions

quint

1
[ kwint, kint ]
/ kwɪnt, kɪnt /

noun

an organ stop sounding a fifth higher than the corresponding digitals.
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).

Nearby words

  1. quinquepartite,
  2. quinquereme,
  3. quinquevalence,
  4. quinquevalent,
  5. quinsy,
  6. quint major,
  7. quint minor,
  8. quint.,
  9. quinta,
  10. quintain

Origin of quint

1
1520–30; < French quinte (feminine of quint) < Latin quīnta, feminine of quīntus fifth

quint

2
[ kwint ]
/ kwɪnt /

noun Informal.

a quintuplet.

Origin of quint

2
First recorded in 1930–35; shortened form
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for quints

quint

1

noun

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

Word Origin for quint

C17: from French quinte, from Latin quintus fifth

quint

2
/ (kwɪnt) /

noun

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 quints

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