quintain

quin·tain
Q10U1I1N1T1A1I1N1
/ˈkwɪntɪn/

noun

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.

OriginAnglo-Norman quintaine ← Middle French quintaine ← Latin quīntāna →
First used 15th c.Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nounquintain (plural quintains)

plural quintains

  1. historicalAn 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.First known use 15th c.

    At Offham, in Kent, tilting at the quintain provides a climax to the day's revels.

    1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 263
    2 more examples

    My better parts Are all thrown down; and that which here stands up Is but a quintain, a mere lifeless block.

    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

    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.

    2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 285

Origin

  1. Latinquīntāna“street separating fifth and sixth maniples in a Roman camp”
  2. Middle Frenchquintaine
  3. Anglo-Normanquintaine
  4. Englishquintain

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”).

More words from Anglo-Norman, Middle French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan estaferm
  • estafermTranslations
Danish quintane
  • quintaneTranslations
French quintaine
  • quintaineTranslations
German drehender Roland, Quintana
  • drehender RolandTranslations
  • QuintanaTranslations
Italian quintana
  • quintanaTranslations
Portuguese estafermo
  • estafermoTranslations
Welsh cwinten
  • cwintenTranslations

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

quintina
Cite this entry
APA

quintain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quintain

MLA

“quintain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quintain. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quintain,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quintain.

Source: quintain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.