quinconce
French edit
Etymology edit
From Latin quīncunx (“by five”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
quinconce m (plural quinconces)
- a quincunx, a group of five items arranged in a square with one in the middle
- 1849, Alexandre Dumas, Les Mille et Un Fantômes:
- Jardin de curé, avec son quinconce de tilleuls, sa collection de dahlias et de rosiers, ses berceaux de vignes et ses espaliers de pêchers et d’abricotiers: […]
- Garden of the vicar, with its quincunx of lime trees, its collection of dahlias and of roses, its beds of wine ranks and its stairs of peaches and apricots: […]
- (by extension) a plantation made at equal distances in a straight row, giving multiple alleys of trees in different directions
- 1943, O. Bussard, Cultures légumières:
- Les trous sont souvent disposés en quinconce, parfois en carré ou simplement en ligne.
- The holes are often arranged in straight lines, sometimes in a square, or simply aligned.
- (by extension) a place planted in this manner
- Les quinconces de Versailles.
- The quinconces of Versailles.
Further reading edit
quinconce on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia fr- “quinconce”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin quīncuncem, derived from quīnque (“five”) + uncia (“ounce”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
quinconce m or f (invariable)
- (historical, Ancient Rome):
- five twelfths
- (numismatics) quincunx (5/12 of an as)
- (units of measure) 5/12 of a Roman foot
- quincunx (arrangement of five units)
- (agriculture) a plantation made at equal distances in a straight row, giving multiple alleys of trees in different directions
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- quinconce in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana