Quincunx (disambiguation) explained

A quincunx originally meant a 5/12 fraction of something, but most modern uses involve patterns of five points. "Quincunx" or "quincuncial" may in particular refer to

Derived from original meaning

• Quincunx (Roman coin), a bronze coin with the value of 5/12 of an as
• Quincunx (astrology), an angle of 150°, 5/12 of a complete circle

Geometric patterns of points

• Quincunx, five points, four in a square with one more in the middle of the square.
• An orchard planted in a square lattice aligned diagonally to the surrounding plot of land
• Quincunx matrix, a 2×2 Hadamard matrix that generates points in a diagonal lattice pattern
• Bean machine, also called a quincunx, a machine designed by Sir Francis Galton to demonstrate normal distributions, consisting of an array of pins in a diagonal lattice pattern
• Quincuncial map, a method of mapping the globe onto a square so that the poles map to the five points of a quincunx
• Place des Quinconces, a city square in Bordeaux, France, named for the quincunx pattern in which its trees were planted
• Rhombic lattice, the points of intersection of two families of equally spaced parallel lines, called a quincunx In 19th-century mathematics

Literature

• The Garden of Cyrus or The Quincunciall Lozenge, 1658 philosophical treatise by Sir Thomas Browne involving the quincunx pattern
• Mistress Masham's Repose, 1946 novel by T. H. White in which a lake is called the Quincunx
• The Quincunx of Time, 1973 science fiction novel by James Blish
• The Avignon Quintet, five novels described by their author, Lawrence Durrell, as forming a quincunx
• The Quincunx, 1989 novel by Charles Palliser that traces five generations of five families
• The Quincunx Cycle, series of novels begun in 2014 by Canadian author André Alexis

Biology

• Quincuncial aestivation, an arrangement of five parts of a flower bud prior to opening found in some plants
• Quincuncina, a genus of freshwater mussels named for the pattern of nodules on its shells