quinternion

[ kwin-tur-nee-uhn ]

noun

, Bookbinding.

1. five gathered sheets folded in two for binding together.

Word History and Origins

Origin of quinternion¹

1645–55; quint- five (< Latin quintus fifth ) + -ternion (extracted from quaternion )

Example Sentences

A gathering of five sheets making ten leaves was called a quinternion, and this, though it has yielded no modern word, was for generations such a popular form that quinterniones was sometimes used as a general expression for manuscripts.

From Project Gutenberg

The book, when complete, consists of eight quaternions or eight leaves folded together and one quinternion or section of five sheets folded together, making in all seventy-four leaves, of which the first and last are blank.

From Project Gutenberg