† quincuryn.
Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin quincuria.
Etymology: < post-classical Latin quincuria (1555 in the passage translated in quot. 1632: see note) < classical Latin quīnque five (see quinque- comb. form) + -uria (in decuria decury n.). Compare ancient Greek πεμπάς group of five.Holland translated Xenophon's Cyropaedia (see quot. 1632) from Greek, but compared the Latin and French versions; the Latin version has quincuria here, while the French version has a paraphrase.
Ancient Greek History.
Obsolete.
rare.
1632 P. Holland tr. Xenophon ii. iv. 38 For a Cinquenier, that..he..performe to the uttermost of his power, that the Quincury [Gk. πεμπάδα] under his charge may be like unto himselfe.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2020).
n.1632