A quincunx is an arrangement of five items in a square or rectangle, with one at each corner and one in the center.
A quincunx is a pattern of five items arranged with one at each corner of a square or rectangle and one in the center.
| Front | quincunx \KWIN-kunks\ |
|---|---|
| Back | noun An arrangement of five things in a square or rectangle with one at each corner and one in the middle. [As our second example sentence suggests, today's word has its origins in ancient Rome. To the Romans, a "quincunx" was a coin whose name comes from the Latin roots "quinque," meaning "five," and "uncia," meaning "one twelfth." The weight of the coin equaled five twelfths of a libra, a unit of weight similar to our pound. The ancients used a pattern of five dots arranged like the spots on a die as a symbol for the coin, and English speakers applied the word to arrangements similar to that distinctive five-dot mark.] "As we walked along the geometric beds -- many of them planted in an ancient Roman quincunx pattern -- I made notes on the beautiful crops I had never grown." |
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