quintain means an object (generally a post or plank on a support) set up as a target to be tilted at in jousting, or otherwise used as target practice. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
quintain is pronounced /ˈkwɪntɪn/.
Why “quintain” is a great word
QUINTAIN — [Noun] A post or other object, often with a pivoting arm or shield, set up as a target for tilting practice in medieval jousting. From Anglo-Norman and Middle French quintaine, probably from Latin quīntāna ("street separating the fifth and sixth maniples in a Roman camp, later a market or exercise ground"), from quīntānus ("pertaining to the fifth"). First attested in English c. 1400. Unlike a "target"—a general term for any object aimed at—or a "cinquain"—a five-line poetic form—a quintain is the specific, mechanical apparatus of chivalric drill. It is the solitary silhouette in a sun-baked field, the percussive *thwack* of lance on shield as the arm swings round, and the rider's repetitive, dusty circuit between charge and correction—a stationary tutor in the grueling physics of honor.
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman quintaine, quinteine, Middle French quintaine, probably from Latin quīntāna (“street separating fifth and sixth maniples in a Roman camp”), feminine form of quīntānus (“pertaining to the fifth”).
noun
- An object (generally a post or plank on a support) set up as a target to be tilted at in jousting, or otherwise used as target practice.“My better parts
Are all thrown down; and that which here stands up
Is but a quintain, a mere lifeless block.”