quinconce

French

FWOTD – 25 February 2014

quinconce

Etymology

From Latin quīncunx (“by five”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɛ̃.kɔ̃s/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

quinconce m (plural quinconces)

1. 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: […]

2. (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.

3. (by extension) a place planted in this manner

   Les quinconces de Versailles.

   The quinconces of Versailles.

Further reading

• quinconce on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fr
• “quinconce”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Alternative forms

• quincunce

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin quīncuncem, derived from quīnque (“five”) + uncia (“ounce”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kwinˈkon.t͡ʃe/
• Rhymes: -ontʃe
• Hyphenation: quin‧cón‧ce

Noun

quinconce m or f (invariable)

1. (historical, Ancient Rome):
   1. five twelfths
   2. (numismatics) quincunx (5/12 of an as)
   3. (units of measure) 5/12 of a Roman foot
2. quincunx (arrangement of five units)
3. (agriculture) a plantation made at equal distances in a straight row, giving multiple alleys of trees in different directions

Derived terms

• quinconce di Galton

Further reading

• quinconce in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana