The Collaborative International Dictionary
Quintain \Quin"tain\, n. [F. quintaine, LL. quintana; cf. W. chwintan a kind of hymeneal game.] An object to be tilted at; -- called also quintel. [Written also quintin.]
Note: A common form in the Middle Ages was an upright post,
on the top of which turned a crosspiece, having on one
end a broad board, and on the other a sand bag. The
endeavor was to strike the board with the lance while
riding under, and get away without being hit by the
sand bag. ``But a quintain, a mere lifeless block.''
--Shak.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"target for tilting and jousting practice," c.1400 (in Anglo-Latin from mid-13c.), from Old French quintaine or directly from Medieval Latin quintana; perhaps from Latin quintana "of the fifth" (see quinque-), which as a noun meant "the business part of a camp," on the supposition that this was where military exercises were done [OED].
Wiktionary
n. (context now historical English) An object (generally a post or plank on a support) set up as a target to be tilted at in jousting, or otherwise used as target practice. (from 15th c.)
Wikipedia
Quintain may refer to:
- Quintain (jousting), a piece of training equipment for jousting
- Quintain (poetry), a poetic form containing five lines
- Quintaine Americana, a rock band
- Quintain Estates and Development, a property company
Quintain is a British-based property investment and development business, which operates through Urban Regeneration, focussed on schemes in Wembley Park and Asset Management, with headquarters in London.
The quintain (from Latin "fifth"), also known as pavo (Latin "peacock"), may have included a number of lance games, often used as training for jousting, where the competitor would attempt to strike an object with his lance, sword or other weapon. The common object was a shield or board on a pole (usually referred to, confusingly, as 'the quintain'), although a mannequin was sometimes used. It was not unknown for a seated armoured knight to act as the target.
This game was open to all, popular with young men of all classes. While the use of horses aided in training for the joust, the game could be played on foot, using a wooden horse or on boats (popular in 12th-century London).
As late as the 18th century running at the quintain survived in English rural districts. In one variation of the pastime the quintain was a tun filled with water, which, if the blow was a poor one, was emptied over the striker. A later form was a post with a cross-piece, from which was suspended a ring, which the horseman endeavoured to pierce with his lance while at full speed. This sport, called "tilting at the ring", was very popular in England and on the continent of Europe in the 17th century and is still practised as a feature of military and equestrian sport.
A form of quintain known as štehvanje is practiced by Slovenes in the Gail Valley in Austrian Carinthia, and it was also introduced to villages in the Sava Valley north of Ljubljana in the 1930s.
Usage examples of "quintain".
Daryll and Mathias had set up a small quintain, a man-shaped dummy on a series of ropes and pulleys, so that it would move.
The object in tilting at a quintain is to strike the shield precisely, causing the dummy to pivot 180 degrees.
Peachblossom to the quintain and dismounted, picking the pieces of her shattered knee out of the mud.
A single quintain was free, the one assigned to the new pages: Esmond was next, but Lord Wyldon was showing him something as the other three first-years watched.
The target snapped to the side, precisely as it did for the third- and fourth-year pages, the quintain turning neatly.
Vladimir and I had just spent another grueling three-hour session of fighting practice, trying to teach me how to put a lance through a quintain, an old plywood shield with a small hole in the center of it.
I mean that he could set the quintain at right angles to its normal position, charge it at a full gallop, and while passing three yards from it thrust his lance out to the side and skewer the hole every time.
Stillborn smiled with satisfaction as he reeled in the guide rope, causing the quintain to rise toward him.
He stilled the quintain with the guide rope and vaulted down from the ledge.
Stillborn exploded into motion, kicking the quintain from him with all his might.
In one easy movement he slid the blade free, barely causing the quintain to stir.
Encouraged, he began a new barrage of sword thrusts, tracking the quintain as it swung around the fight circle.
The quintain creaked on her chain as he sat upright, moving with the wind.
Phoebe explained that on every third rise, the squires and sometimes the pages, warriors in training, practiced quintain and running at the rings.
In quintain the participants used lances to charge at a target attached to an arm.