▪ I. quintain1 Obs. exc. Hist.
(ˈkwɪntɪn)
Forms: α. 5–6 quyn-, 6 quintayne, 6–7 -aine, 6– quintain; 5 qwaintan, 7 quintan(e, whinta(i)ne; 7 quinten. β. 5 quyntyne, 6 -ine, 6–8 quintine, 7, 9 -in. γ. 7 quintel(l, -al, -il.
[a. OF. quintaine, -tene, -tine, etc. (see Godef.) = Prov., It. quintana, med.L. quintana, -tena; usually regarded as identical with L. quintāna the market and business-place of a camp (f. quintus fifth, sc. maniple), on the supposition that military exercises may have been practised there.]
A stout post or plank, or some object mounted on such a support, set up as a mark to be tilted at with lances or poles, or thrown at with darts, as an exercise of skill for horsemen or footmen; also, the exercise or sport of tilting, etc. at such a mark.
The actual form of the quintain, and the object of the sport, varied considerably. In some cases the post or block had to be struck so as to break the lance; in others the quintain consisted of a revolving figure, or a bar weighted with a sand-bag, which swung round and struck the unskilful tilter. In the Middle Ages tilting at the quintain was a common knightly exercise; in the 17–18th c. it is mentioned as a favourite country sport at weddings.
| [a 1259 Matth. Paris Cron. Maj. (Rolls) V. 367 Eodem tempore (an. 1253) juvenes Londinenses, statuto pavone pro bravio, ad stadium quod quintena vulgariter dicitur, vires proprias et equorum cursus sunt experti.] |
| α c 1400 Destr. Troy 1627 Somur qwenes and qwaintans, & oþer qwaint gamnes. c 1450 Merlin 133 After mete was the quyntayne reysed. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 530 Than Hector caused a faire quintayne to be pyght vp in the myddes of the cyte: and therat ran these yonge knyghtes, brekynge and sheueringe of theyr speres. 1611 Cotgr., Quintaine, a Quintane (or Whintane) for countrey youthes to runne at. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iv, Keelpins,..quintans,..which are the common recreations of country folkes. 1693 Lond. Gaz. No. 2845/2 This day there is to be a Carousel, viz. Running at the Quintain and the Ring. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The custom is still retained in Shropshire, and some other counties, among the nuptial solemnities.—He that breaks most poles against the quintain, has the prize. 1814 Scott Chivalry (1874) 26 Making him ride a career against a wooden figure holding a buckler called a quintaine. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 26 July 10/1 This quintain [at Offham, Kent] (said to be the only surviving specimen in England). |
| β c 1440 Promp. Parv. 421/1 Quyntyne, quirinarium. 1530 Palsgr. 178 Bersault, a quyntine. 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 21 Before the Castl..whear az waz pight a cumly quintine for featz at armz. 1656 Blount Glossogr. s.v., A Quintin..is set fast in the ground in the Highway, where the Bride and Bridegroom are to pass. 1707 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 334 Sports on the Sabbath amongst which the Quintine. 1885 J. Payn Talk of Town I. 137 That ancient game the quintin. |
| γ 1617 Minsheu Ductor, A Quintaine, or Quintell, a game in request at marriages, when Jac and Tom, Dic, Hob, and Will, striue for the gay garland. 1644 Quarles Sheph. Orac. vi, Harmless sports..And ceremonious Quintils, that belongs To Shepheard's rural mirth. 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 200 Running at the Quinten,..or Quintel. |
b. transf. or fig.
| 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. iv. iv. 32 Paune thou no gloue..Nor make thy Quintaine others armed head. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. ii. 263 That which here stands vp Is but a quintine, a meere liuelesse blocke. 1641 Earl of Monmouth tr. Biondi's Civil Warres i. 20 Imagining himself to bee..the only quintan those lances addressed themselves against. 1694 S. Johnson Notes Past. Let. Bp. Burnet i. 98 [It] was afterwards set up by it self for a Countrey Quintin, to be thrown at by all the Loyal Sparks of the Nation. |
c. attrib., as quintain-knight, quintain-post.
| 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 46 Her quintine knights, & proper bickerings of the Couentree men. 1857 Trollope Barchester T. III. 31 The quintain post stood..before him. |
Hence † ˈquintaining, riding at the quintain.
| 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 24 Theez ryderz..leaft thear quintining, and ran one at anoother. |
▪ II. † quintain2 Obs. rare—1.
[f. L. quint- fifth, after quatrain.]
A stanza of five lines; a cinquain.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. x[i]. (Arb.) 102 This is in a staffe of..ten verses: whereas without a band in the middle, it would seeme..two quintaines. |
▪ III. quintain3
see quintin.