What does "quincunx" mean?

An arrangement of five units with four forming the corners of a square and the fifth at the centre of the square, a pattern corresponding to the five-spot on dice, playing cards, or dominoes.

What is a synonym for "quincunx"?

Common synonyms include: fin, galton board, phoebe, quintet, quintuplet.

How do you pronounce "quincunx"?

Pronounced //ˈkwɪŋkʌŋks//.

Quincunx

//ˈkwɪŋkʌŋks// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
An arrangement of five units with four forming the corners of a square and the fifth at the centre of the square, a pattern corresponding to the five-spot on dice, playing cards, or dominoes.
2
An angle of five-twelfths of a circle, or 150°, between two objects.
3
A Galton board.
"In 1873–74 Sir Francis Galton (Charles Darwin’s cousin) designed an apparatus that he later named the quincunx."
4
A bronze coin minted during the Roman Republic, valued at five-twelfths of an as. historical

Synonyms

All synonyms

fin galton board phoebe quintet quintuplet

Example

More examples

"In 1873–74 Sir Francis Galton (Charles Darwin’s cousin) designed an apparatus that he later named the quincunx."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin quīncunx.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.