Word.ws English Dictionary

quintain

Syllables: quin·tain/ˈkwɪntɪn/

quintain 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.

quintain: an object (generally a post or plank on a support) set up as a target to be tilted at in jousting,...
Image: Coleby, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

quintain (plural quintains)

  1. (historical) 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.
    • 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...
    • 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

quintain meaning in Kannada

quintain in Kannada

ಗುರಿಗಂಬ, ಗುರಿಯಾಗಿ ನೆಟ್ಟ ಕಂಬ

Forms of quintain

pluralquintains

Origin of quintain

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”).

Questions about quintain

What does quintain mean?
Quintain means 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.
What is quintain in Kannada?
Quintain in Kannada is ಗುರಿಗಂಬ, ಗುರಿಯಾಗಿ ನೆಟ್ಟ ಕಂಬ. See Quintain meaning in Kannada.
What part of speech is quintain?
Quintain is a noun.
How do you pronounce quintain?
Quintain is pronounced /ˈkwɪntɪn/.
What is the plural of quintain?
The plural of quintain is quintains.

Words near quintain in the dictionary

  1. quintagenarian
  2. quintagenarians
  3. Quintaglie
  4. quintagon
  5. quintagons
  6. quintain
  7. quintains
  8. quintal
  9. quintale
  10. quintalejo
  11. quintalejos

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: quintain (page history and authors); quintain (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “quintain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/quintain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.