Quinary

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈkwaɪ.nə.ɹi/

Definitions

1. A numerical system based on five, or relating to the number five or groups of five
2. A system characterized by the use of five elements or a structure that consists of five distinct parts
3. Pertaining to a classification or group that is organized around the number five or its multiples

Etymology: "Quinary" comes from the Latin "quīnārius," meaning "containing five each," which was itself built from "quīnī," meaning "five each" or "five at a time." The Latin "quīnī" is a distributive numeral, the kind used to say things came in fives, as opposed to the plain cardinal "quinque" ("five"). The ending "-ārius" is the same suffix that gives English "-ary" in words like "dictionary" and "customary," and it marks something belonging to or relating to a particular thing. The word's Roman sense was therefore about arrangement rather than the number itself: something grouped in batches of five. That idea of counting in fives survives in the English adjective, which describes systems built around five or its multiples. Its close relatives include the French "quinaire," the Italian "quinario," and the Portuguese "quinário," all descended from the same Latin source. English also has "quinarius," a doublet that entered the language directly from Latin and kept the original spelling.

Synonyms: fifth, fivefold