Quintana, R. A causeway fifty feet wide in a Roman camp.
Quintetto, It. A piece of music for five performers, obligati. (Cf. Quartet.)
Quintile. In Astronomy, distant from each other 72 degrees, or a fifth of a circle.
Quippa, Peruv. (lit. a knot). A fringe of knotted and particoloured threads, used to record events in ancient Mexico.
Quippos or Quippus, Peruv. A plaited cord of strings of different colours and lengths, used as a substitute for writing among the ancient Peruvians.
Quire. O. E. for Choir.
Quirinalia, R. A festival sacred to Romulus—Quirinus—held on the 17th of February, as the anniversary of the day on which he was supposed to have been carried up to heaven. The festival was also called Stultorum feriæ. (See Fornacalia.)
Quirk, Arch. An acute channel by which the convex parts of Greek mouldings (the ogees and ovolos) are separated from the fillet or soffit that covers them. In Gothic architecture quirks are abundantly used between mouldings.
Quishwine, Quusson, and Qwissinge. Old ways of spelling the word “cushion.”
Quivers. The ancient Greeks and Etruscans, the Normans and Saxons wore quivers (pharetra) on a belt slung over the shoulder. Archers of the 12th to 14th century carried their arrows stuck in their belts.