quintuplet

American  

[kwin-tuhp-lit, -too-plit, -tyoo-, kwin-too-plit, -tyoo-] / kwɪnˈtʌp lɪt, -ˈtu plɪt, -ˈtyu-, ˈkwɪn tʊ plɪt, -tyʊ- /

noun

1. any group or combination of five, especially of the same kind.

2. quintuplets, five children or offspring born of one pregnancy.

3. one of five such children or offspring.

4. Music. a group of five notes of equal value performed in the time normally taken for four.

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quintuplet British  

/ kwɪnˈtjuːplɪt, ˈkwɪntjʊplɪt /

noun

1. a group or set of five similar things

2. Often shortened to: quin.  one of five offspring born at one birth

3. music a group of five notes to be played in a time value of three, four, or some other value

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Etymology

Origin of quintuplet

First recorded in 1870–75; quintuple + -et

Example Sentences

When asked what they tell people who are curious about life as a quintuplet, Ashley Totowa says, “It’s like a large friend group that you can’t leave.”

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024

And Lim’s soft playing is particularly sensitive, as in the pleading quality he brings to a tiny pianissimo quintuplet in Op.

From New York Times • Apr. 25, 2024

Two sets of quintuplet lambs have been born in a "one in a million" event, a farmer has said.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2022

It was the second quintuplet birth at UK Hospital in less than a year.

From Washington Times • May 14, 2017

It is placed in an elegant quintuplet arcading, the outer arches of which are blind, leaving the central arches for the three lancets composing the window.

From Bell's Cathedrals: Southwark Cathedral Formerly the Collegiate Church of St. Saviour, Otherwise St. Mary Overie. A Short History and Description of the Fabric, with Some Account of the College and the See by Worley, George