quintuplet

[kwin-tuhp-lit, -too-plit, -tyoo-, kwin-too-plit, -tyoo-]

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.

quintuplet

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of quintuplet¹

First recorded in 1870–75; quintuple + -et

Example Sentences

Former child star quintuplets reunite when their stage mom dies.

From Los Angeles Times

A set of quintuplets from New Jersey are now all graduates of the same school in their home state — albeit with different majors.

From Seattle Times

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

In 2014, for example, a Quebec woman convinced her town she was expecting quintuplets.

From National Geographic

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

From BBC