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260 entries found
quinoa (n.)

1620s, from Spanish spelling of Quechua (Inca) kinua.

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quinquennial (adj.)
late 15c., "lasting five years," from Latin quinquennis "of five years, celebrated every fifth year," from quinque- "five" (from PIE root *penkwe- "five") + ending from biennial, etc. Meaning "happening once every five years" attested from c. 1600. As a noun from 1895; earlier quinquennal (1610s).
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quinsy (n.)

"severe sore throat," late 14c., qwinaci, from Old French quinancie (Modern French esquinacie), from Late Latin cynanche, from Greek kynankhe "sore throat," also "dog collar," literally "dog-choking," from kyōn (genitive kynos) "dog" (from PIE root *kwon- "dog") + ankhein "to strangle," from PIE root *angh- "tight, painfully constricted, painful."

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quint (n.)
1520s, "a tax of one-fifth," from Middle French quint, from Latin quintus "the fifth," ordinal to quinque "five" (from PIE root *penkwe- "five"). Used in English of various groups of five since 17c. First attested 1935 as a shortening of quintuplet (American English; British English prefers quin); used originally of the Dionne quintuplets, born May 28, 1934, near Callander, Ontario, Canada.
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quinta (n.)
"country house, villa," 1754, from Spanish and Portuguese quinta, originally a farm and house let out for a rent of one-fifth of its produce, from Latin quintus "one fifth," related to quinque "five" (see quinque-).
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quintain (n.)
"target for tilting and jousting practice," c. 1400 (in Anglo-Latin from mid-13c.), from Old French quintaine or directly from Medieval Latin quintana; perhaps from Latin quintana "of the fifth" (from PIE root *penkwe- "five"), which as a noun meant "the business part of a camp," on the supposition that this was where military exercises were done [OED].
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quintal (n.)
"a weight of a hundred pounds," c. 1400, from Old French quintal "hundredweight," and directly from Medieval Latin quintale, from Arabic quintar, from Late Greek kentenarion, from Latin centenarius "containing a hundred" (see centenary).
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quintessence (n.)
early 15c., in ancient and medieval philosophy, "pure essence, substance of which the heavenly bodies are composed," literally "fifth essence," from Middle French quinte essence (14c.), from Medieval Latin quinta essentia, from Latin quinta, fem. of quintus "fifth" (from PIE root *penkwe- "five") + essentia "being, essence," abstract noun formed (to translate Greek ousia "being, essence") from essent-, present participle stem of esse "to be," from PIE root *es- "to be."

A loan-translation of Greek pempte ousia, the "ether" added by Aristotle to the four known elements (water, earth, fire, air) and said to permeate all things. Its extraction was one of the chief goals of alchemy. Sense of "purest essence" (of a situation, character, etc.) is first recorded 1580s.
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quintessential (adj.)
c. 1600, "purest, most refined," from quintessence (Medieval Latin quint essentia) + -al (1). Related: Quintessentially.
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quintet (n.)
1811, "composition for five voices," from Italian quintetto, diminutive of quinto "fifth," from Latin quintus "the fifth," related to quinque "five" (from PIE root *penkwe- "five"). Meaning "set of five singers or players" is from 1882.
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