Quintaine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A medieval training device of a post with a pivoting crossbar and shield that knights struck with lances to practice their jousting
2. An upright post with a swinging arm and target that horsemen aimed at while learning to tilt with a lance
3. A wooden target on a pivot used in medieval tournaments so riders could practice striking with a lance at speed

Etymology: The quintain was a training target for medieval knights and squires. It was a post with a crossbar, a shield on one end, and a heavy weight on the other. A rider charging at it had to strike the shield cleanly, or the swinging arm would come round and knock him off his horse. The name comes from Old French "quintaine", which passed into Middle English. The Old French word goes back to Late Latin "quintana", a noun formed from the adjective "quintanus", meaning "of the fifth". The Latin term was used of a street in a Roman military camp, and the link to the fifth is probably connected to that street's name. How a camp street came to name a jousting dummy is not firmly documented, so the connection is uncertain.

Synonyms: quintain