quincunx
quincunx in astrology, an aspect of 150°, equivalent to five zodiacal signs, first referred by the English astrologer William Lilly (1602–81).
Quincunx is also used for an arrangement of five objects with four at the corners of a square or rectangle and the fifth at its centre, used for the five on a dice or playing card, and in planting trees (this sense, which is also found in Latin, apparently derives from the use of five dots or dashes, arranged in this way, to denote five twelfths of an as), an ancient Roman copper coin.
The word is Latin, and means literally ‘five twelfths’.
Quincunx is also used for an arrangement of five objects with four at the corners of a square or rectangle and the fifth at its centre, used for the five on a dice or playing card, and in planting trees (this sense, which is also found in Latin, apparently derives from the use of five dots or dashes, arranged in this way, to denote five twelfths of an as), an ancient Roman copper coin.
The word is Latin, and means literally ‘five twelfths’.
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quincunx