quintal
Contents
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Anglo-Norman quintal, Middle French quintal, from Medieval Latin quintale, from Arabic قِنْطَار (qinṭār), ultimately from Latin centēnārium. Doublet of centenary.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
quintal (plural quintals)
- (historical except India) A measure of weight originally equal to a hundred pounds; later, a hundredweight.
- Synonym: hundredweight
- 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, page 204:
- In one import license alone, the merchant in question was instructed to bring in 13,000 quintals of alum, which, snapped up by industries in England and the Low Countries, would yield the king a cool £8,666 13s 4d.
- One hundred kilograms.
Usage notesEdit
The quintal is not standardized in the International System of Units. In modern use it usually corresponds to 100 kilograms; before the introduction of the metric system the value varied according to the weight of the local pound. A French quintal was 49.951 kg, a Portuguese quintal 58.75 kg, a Spanish quintal 46.014 kg and an Italian quintale 32.67 kg (in Milan).
TranslationsEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French quintal, from Medieval Latin quintale, from Arabic قِنْطَار (qinṭār), ultimately from Latin centenarius.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
quintal m (plural quintaux)
- (historical) quintal (49.951 kg)
- quintal (100 kg)
Further readingEdit
- “quintal” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Middle FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French quintal, from Medieval Latin quintale, from Arabic قِنْطَار (qinṭār), ultimately from Latin centenarius.
NounEdit
quintal m (plural quintaulx)
- quintal (hundredweight)
Old FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
Medieval Latin quintale, from Arabic قِنْطَار (qinṭār), ultimately from Latin centenarius.
NounEdit
quintal m (oblique plural quintaus or quintax or quintals, nominative singular quintaus or quintax or quintals, nominative plural quintal)
- quintal (hundredweight)
PortugueseEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old Portuguese quintãal, from Vulgar Latin *quintanale; or from quinta + -al.
NounEdit
quintal m (plural quintais)
- yard (land around a house)
Etymology 2Edit
From Arabic قِنْطَار (qinṭār), from Byzantine Greek κεντηνάριον (kentēnárion), from Latin centēnārium (“hundredweight”).
NounEdit
quintal m (plural quintais)
- quintal (one hundred kilograms)
SpanishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- qq (abbreviation)
EtymologyEdit
From Late Latin quintale, from Arabic قِنْطَار (qinṭār), ultimately from Latin centenarius.
NounEdit
quintal m (plural quintales)
Usage notesEdit
The exact definition of a quintal varies locally, usually being 46 kg or 100 kg (if the latter is meant, it may be distinguished by being called the quintal métrico).