Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Music A composition for five voices or five instruments.
- n. Music A group of five singers or five instrumentalists.
- n. A group of five.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In music: A movement for five solo parts, either vocal or instrumental. Instrumental quintets are essentially similar to quartets.
- n. A company of five singers or players who perform quintets.
- n. A bicycle made to carry five.
Wiktionary
- n. music A composition (a type of chamber music) in five parts (typically each a singer or instrumentalist, sometimes several musicians)
- n. music A group of five musicians, fit to play such a piece of music together
- n. Any group of five members
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Mus.) A composition for five voices or instruments; also, the set of five persons who sing or play five-part music.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a musical composition for five performers
- n. five performers or singers who perform together
- n. the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
- n. five people considered as a unit
- n. a set of five similar things considered as a unit
Etymologies
- From Italian quintetto, diminutive of quinto ("fifth"), itself from Latin quintus, related to quīnque ("five"). (Wiktionary)
- Probably from Italian quintetto, diminutive of quinto, fifth, from Latin quīntus; see penkwe in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“As wonderful as the big-band album is, Mr. Watson's ongoing quintet is no less carefully orchestrated: Horizon is one of those rare groups of any size where every element, every solo, every melody, every drum break, seems precisely in place and serves a direct purpose; you feel that the composition is growing and developing even during the improvisations.”
“The quintet is back at full force for the first time in 15 years as they reconcile with Bizzy and welcome back Flesh after eight years in prison.”
“M5, a brass quintet from the Manhattan School of Music, will be among the exciting young ensembles that perform live.”
“The reality of the local parish and its guitar quintet is likely to be disappointing by comparison.”
“The Motown quintet is known for signature harmony songs such as "My Girl" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).”
“Mount McGinnis, the tallest, most difficult, and most rewarding of the mountain quintet.”
“The fifth member of the quintet was the most terrible of them all.”
“Walter, and then as Eva, David, Magdalena, and Beckmesser successively enter, the scene develops into a magnificent quintet, which is one of the most charming numbers in the opera.”
The Standard Operas (12th edition) Their Plots, Their Music, and Their Composers
“In the next scene occurs a dialogue quintet, which is followed by a long aria ( "Sempre gridi") by the duenna Bertha, called by the Italians the "Aria de Sorbetto," because the people used to eat ices while it was sung; reminding one of the great aria from”
The Standard Operas (12th edition) Their Plots, Their Music, and Their Composers
“The personnel of the Shearing quintet changed many times over the years, but except for the addition of a percussionist in 1953 - the band continued to be called a quintet even after it became a sextet - the instrumentation and the sound remained the same for almost three decades.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘quintet’.
-
Q words
Ever get stuck with the random bunch of letters and a q and not know any words? Well, maybe this will help.
quire, quais, quai, queer, quoit, quitrent, quipster, question, quest, questing, quests, quit and 208 more...
-
MUSIC - jazz
funky, pedal, bebop, rap, mix, sub, mid, rag, ECM, bpm, bop, Afro and 437 more...
-
NTDW2
yawp, amidships, smug, jounce, fallow, conscionable, polyp, whit, nouveau riche, palatial, encomiastic, exchequer and 182 more...
-
MUSIC - ALL TERMS
With focus on non-classical styles, but not excluding terms of the latter.
banjo, accompaniment, acoustic bass, bass guitar, bass clef, ground, brass, cornet, Mute, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, arrangement and 866 more...
-
big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
-
quin-
five; multiple of five
quinary, quintuplet, quintuplets, quincentennial, quinquagenarian, quindecemvirate, quinquagesimal, quinquevalent, quintilateral, quintile, quinella, quincunx and 13 more...
-
summerwing's Words
proctosigmoidoscopy, horrendous, cichlid, implode, nostalgic, firmament, elucidate, quintet, rhombus, mack, pithy, rambunctious and 304 more...
-
la musique
Music as a multilingual poem.
glissando, diminuendo, pianissimo, virtuoso, sonata, nocturne, fermata, subito, dolce, forte, rondo, minuet and 5 more...
-
well tempered clavier
baroque, a cappella, lyric, sonata, minuet, cantata, quadrille, requiem, timbre, trill, adagio, arpeggio and 25 more...
-
My Words are Numbered
Names of numbers.
zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven and 61 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for quintet.
qroqqa My father never held a tennis racket or a golf club, and he couldn't kick a football or catch a swift pitch, but he bowled whenever he got a chance – tenpins, duckpins, candlepins, cocked hat, and quintet, a difficult game, the rules for which I was told he had helped to make up.
—James Thurber, 1952, 'Gentleman from Indiana', in The Thurber Album Jul 18, 2008