quintal

See also: Quintal

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman quintal, Middle French quintal, from Medieval Latin quintale, from Arabic قِنْطَار‎ (qinṭār), ultimately from Latin centēnārium. Doublet of centenary.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɪntəl/

Noun

quintal (plural quintals)

1. (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.

2. One hundred kilograms.

Usage notes

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).

Translations

hundredweight — see hundredweight

one hundred kilograms

• Armenian: ցենտներ (hy) (cʿentner)
• Basque: kintal (eu)
• Catalan: quintar (ca) m
• Finnish: sentaali (fi)
• German: Quintal (de) m, Doppelzentner (de) m (Germany), Zentner (de) m (Austria, Switzerland), Dezitonne (de) f
• Hungarian: mázsa (hu)

• Italian: quintale (it) m
• Norman: tchînta m
• Portuguese: quintal (pt)
• Russian: це́нтнер (ru) m (céntner)
• Spanish: quintal métrico m
• Volapük: kuin (vo)

---

French

Etymology

From Old French quintal, from Medieval Latin quintale, from Arabic قِنْطَار‎ (qinṭār), ultimately from Latin centenarius.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɛ̃.tal/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

quintal m (plural quintaux)

1. (historical) quintal (49.951 kg)
2. quintal (100 kg)

Further reading

• “quintal” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

---

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French quintal, from Medieval Latin quintale, from Arabic قِنْطَار‎ (qinṭār), ultimately from Latin centenarius.

Noun

quintal m (plural quintaulx)

1. quintal (hundredweight)

---

Old French

Etymology

Medieval Latin quintale, from Arabic قِنْطَار‎ (qinṭār), ultimately from Latin centenarius.

Noun

quintal m (oblique plural quintaus or quintax or quintals, nominative singular quintaus or quintax or quintals, nominative plural quintal)

1. quintal (hundredweight)

---

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kĩ.ˈtaɫ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kĩ.ˈtaw/
• Hyphenation: quin‧tal

Etymology 1

From Old Portuguese quintãal, from Vulgar Latin *quintanale; or from quinta +‎ -al.

Noun

quintal m (plural quintais)

1. yard (land around a house)

Etymology 2

From Arabic قِنْطَار‎ (qinṭār), from Byzantine Greek κεντηνάριον (kentēnárion), from Latin centēnārium (“hundredweight”).

Noun

quintal m (plural quintais)

1. quintal (one hundred kilograms)

---

Spanish

Alternative forms

• qq (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Late Latin quintale, from Arabic قِنْطَار‎ (qinṭār), ultimately from Latin centenarius.

Noun

quintal m (plural quintales)

1. hundredweight

Usage notes

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).

See also

• centena