Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Dictionary: QUINT'AIN – QUIRK'ED-MOLD-ING
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QUINT'AIN, n. [Fr. quintaine.]
A post with a turning top. – Shak.
QUINT'AL, n. [Fr. quintal; It. quintale; from the root of L. centum, a hundred.]
A hundred pounds in weight; or a weight of that number of pounds: sometimes written and pronounced kentle.
QUIN-TES'SENCE, n. [L. quinta essentia, fifth essence.]
- In alchimy, the fifth or last and highest essence of power in a natural body. Hence,
- An extract from any thing, containing its virtues or most essential part in a small quantity. Let there be light, said God; and forthwith light Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure, / Sprung from the deep. – Milton.
- In chimistry, a preparation consisting of a vegetable essential oil dissolved in spirit of wine.
- The pure essential part of a thing. [I have followed Bailey and Ash and our general usage in the accentuation of this word. Jameson has done the same. The accent on the first syllable is very unnatural.]
Consisting of quintessence.
QUIN'TET, n.
In music, a composition in five obligato parts, each performed by a single voice or instrument.
QUIN'TILE, n. [L. quintus, fifth.]
The aspect of planets when distant from each other the fifth part of the zodiac, or 72 degrees.
QUIN-TIL'LION, n.
A number produced by involving a million to the fifth power.
QUINT'IN, n. [Fr. quintaine, W. çwintan, a hymeneal game.]
An upright post on the top of which turned a cross piece, on one end of which was fixed a broad board, and on the other a sand bag. The play was to tilt or ride against the broad end with a lance, and pass without being struck by the sand bag behind. – B. Jonson.
QUINT'INE, n.
In botany, the fifth coat, reckoning from the outer, of the nucleus of a seed, when there are as many coats. It becomes the sac of the embryo. – Lindley.
QUINT'U-PLE, a. [L. quintuplus, fivefold; quintus and plico.]
Fivefold; containing five times the amount. – Graunt.
QUINT'U-PLE, n.
In music, a species of time containing five crotchets in a bar. [Little used.]
QUINT'U-PLE, v.t.
To make five fold.
QUINT'U-PLED, pp.
Made five times as many.
QUIN'ZAINE, n.
In chronology, the fourteenth day after a feast day, or the fifteenth including the feast day.
QUIP, n. [W. çwip, a quick flirt or turn; çwipiaw, to move briskly, to whip; as we say, to whip round a corner in running.]
A smart sarcastic turn; a taunt; a severe retort. – Milton. Shak.
QUIP, v.i.
To scoff. – Sidney.
QUIP, v.t.
To taunt; to treat with a sarcastic retort. – Ainsworth.
QUI-PRO-QUO, n. [Qui pro quo; see Quid pro quo.]
QUIRE, n. [Fr. choeur; It. coro; L. chorus; Gr. χορος.]
- A body of singers; a chorus. [See Chorus and Choir.] – Milton.
- The part of a church where the service is sung.
QUIRE, n. [Qu. from the root of chorus, or from Fr. cahier, a sheet of paper, or rather a book of loose sheets.]
A collection of paper consisting of twenty-four sheets, each having a single fold.
QUIRE, v.i.
To sing in concert or chorus. – Shak.
QUIR'IS-TER, n.
One that sings in concert; more generally, the leader of a quire, particularly in divine service; a chorister. But in America, this word is little used and vulgar. The word used is chorister.
QUIR-I-TA'TION, n. [L. quiritatio, from quirito, from queror.]
A crying for help. [Not used.] – Bp. Hall.
QUIRK, n. [quurk; from the root of W. çwired, a sudden start or turn, craft, deceit; çwyrn, a whirl.]
- Literally, a turn; a starting from the point or line; hence, an artful turn for evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble; as, the quirks of a pettifogger. – L'Estrange.
- A fit or turn; a short paroxysm; as, a quirk of joy or grief.
- A smart taunt or retort. I may chance to have some odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me. – Shak.
- A slight conceit or quibble. – Watts.
- A flight of fancy. [Not in use.] – Shak.
- An irregular air; as, light quirks of music. – Pope.
- In building, a piece of ground taken out of any regular ground-plot or floor, as to make a court or yard, &c. – Encyc.
In architecture, a molding whose convexity is sudden, in form of a conic section. – Brande.