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Webster 1913 Edition


Quincunx

Quin′cunx

,
Noun.
[L., fr.
quinque
five +
uncia
an ounce. The quincunx was marked by five small spots or balls. See
Five
, and
Ounce
the weight.]
1.
An arrangement of things by fives in a square or a rectangle, one being placed at each corner and one in the middle; especially, such an arrangement of trees repeated indefinitely, so as to form a regular group with rows running in various directions.
2.
(Astrol.)
The position of planets when distant from each other five signs, or 150°.
Hutton.
3.
(Bot.)
A quincuncial arrangement, as of the parts of a flower in æstivation. See
Quincuncial
, 2.

Webster 1828 Edition


Quincunx

QUIN'CUNX

,
Noun.
[L. composed of quinque, five, and uncia, ounce.]
In gardening, the quincunx order is a plantation of trees disposed in a square, consisting of five trees, one at each corner and a fifth in the middle, thus :.:; which order repeated indefinitely, forms a regular grove or wood, which viewed by an angle of the square or parallelogram, presents equal or parallel alleys.