quinconce

French

FWOTD – 25 February 2014

quinconce

Etymology

From Latin quīncunx (“by five”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɛ̃.kɔ̃s/

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.