quintain

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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From Anglo-Norman quintaine, quinteine, Middle French quintaine, probably from Latin quīntāna (street separating fifth and sixth maniples in a Roman camp), feminine form of quīntānus (pertaining to the fifth).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkwɪntɪn/
  • Hyphenation: quin‧tain

Noun

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quintain (plural quintains)

  1. (now historical) An object (generally a post or plank on a support) set up as a target to be tilted at in jousting, or otherwise used as target practice. [from 15th c.]
    • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], lines 362-64:
      My better parts
      Are all thrown down; and that which here stands up
      Is but a quintain, a mere lifeless block.
    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 285:
      In the tiltyard, his companions felt the juddering impact of his sword-blows and saw the muscled precision of his archery and his tilting at the quintain.
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Translations

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