quintal
/ˈkwɪntl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.06 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Synonym of hundredweight, 100 or 112 English or American pounds.
noun
An unofficial metric unit equal to 100 kg.
noun
A grammatical number referring to five (or more) things.
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "In one import license alone, the merchant in question was instructed to bring in 13,000 quintals of alum, which, snapped up by industries in England and the Low Countries, would yield the king a cool £8,666 13s 4d."
- "Furthermore, if the number-incorporated pronouns are analyzed as grammatically marked for number, distinct grammatical categories for trial, quadral and quintal must be posited."
- "In UgSL, we find a complete set of forms for dual, trial, quadral and quintal in several paradigmatic contrasts."
- "All in all, this suggests that in LSC the differences observed in the motion taken by exact number pronouns is not grounded in a fundamental distinction between the dual vs. the trial, the quadral and the quintal."
- "What Table 4 does not show is the possibility of even "quadral" and "quintal" forms, like yufopela 'you four', 'the four of you', yufaipela 'you five', 'the five of you'."
- "In sign languages, on the other hand, trial, quadral and quintal forms such as found in UgSL are not uncommon."
Etymology
Late Middle English, from Anglo-Norman quintal, from Middle French quintal, from Old French and Medieval Latin quintale and quintallus (“various medieval hundredweights”), from Arabic قِنْطَار (qinṭār, “100 rottols”), from Classical Syriac ܩܰܢܛܺܝܪܳܐ (qanṭīrā) and ܩܰܢܛܺܝܢܳܪܳܐ (qanṭīnārā), from Byzantine Greek κεντηνάριον (kentēnárion), from Latin centēnārium (“100 Roman pounds”), from the neuter of centēnārius (“having 100 things”). Use for various non-English units, borrowed from French quintal, Spanish quintal, Portuguese quintal, etc. The apparent relation to quint- (“five, fivefold”) and -al (forming adjectives) is accidental, although it possibly influenced the eventual spelling of the term. Doublet of centenary, centner, and kantar.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkwɪntl/
- British English: /ˈkwɪntl/
Inflected Forms
Phrases
metric quintal