1. A hundredweight, either 112 or 100 pounds, according to the scale used. Cf. Cental. [Sometimes
written and pronounced kentle.]
2. A metric measure of weight, being 100,000 grams, or 100 kilograms, equal to 220.46 pounds avoirdupois.
Quintan
(Quin"tan) a. [L. quintanus, fr. quintus fifth, quinque five. See Five.] Occurring as the fifth,
after four others also, occurring every fifth day, reckoning inclusively; as, a quintan fever. — n. (Med.)
An intermittent fever which returns every fifth day, reckoning inclusively, or in which the intermission lasts
three days.
Quintel
(Quin"tel) n. See Quintain.
Quintessence
(Quin*tes"sence) n. [F., fr. L. quinta essentia fifth essence. See Quint, and Essence.]
1. The fifth or last and highest essence or power in a natural body. See Ferment oils, under Ferment.
[Obs.]
The ancient Greeks recognized four elements, fire, air, water, and earth. The Pythagoreans added a
fifth and called it nether, the fifth essence, which they said flew upward at creation and out of it the stars
were made. The alchemists sometimes considered alcohol, or the ferment oils, as the fifth essence.
2. Hence: An extract from anything, containing its rarest virtue, or most subtle and essential constituent
in a small quantity; pure or concentrated essence.
Let there be light, said God; and forthwith light
Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure,
Sprung from
the deep.
Milton. Quintessence
(Quin*tes"sence), v. t. To distil or extract as a quintessence; to reduce to a quintessence.
[R.] Stirling. "Truth quintessenced and raised to the highest power." J. A. Symonds.
Quintessential
(Quin`tes*sen"tial) a. Of the nature of a quintessence; purest. "Quintessential extract of
mediocrity." G. Eliot.
Quintet
(Quin*tet", Quin*tette") n. [It. quintetto, dim. of quinto the fifth, a fifth part, from L. quintus
the fifth: cf. F. quintette. See Quint.] (Mus.) A composition for five voices or instruments; also, the set
of five persons who sing or play five-part music.
Quintic
(Quin"tic) a. [L. quintus fifth, fr. quinque five.] (Alg.) Of the fifth degree or order. — n. (Alg.)
A quantic of the fifth degree. See Quantic.
Quintile
(Quin"tile) n. [F. quintil aspect, fr. L. quintus the fifth.] (Astron.) The aspect of planets when
separated the fifth part of the zodiac, or 72°. Hutton.
Quintilllion
(Quin*till"lion) n. [Formed fr. L. quintus the fifth, after the analogy of million: cf. F. quintillion.
See Quint.] According to the French notation, which is used on the Continent and in America, the
cube of a million, or a unit with eighteen ciphers annexed; according to the English notation, a number
produced by involving a million to the fifth power, or a unit with thirty ciphers annexed. See the Note
under Numeration.
Quintin
(Quin"tin) n. See Quintain.
Quintine
(Quin"tine) n. [L. quintus the fifth: cf. F. quintine.] (Bot.) The embryonic sac of an ovule,
sometimes regarded as an innermost fifth integument. Cf. Quartine, and Tercine.
Quintole
(Quin"tole) n. [It. quinto fifth.] (Mus.) A group of five notes to be played or sung in the time
of four of the same species.
