Quincunx (disambiguation)
Introduction A '''quincunx''' originally meant a 5/12 fraction of something, but most modern uses involve patterns of five points. "Quincunx" or "quincuncial" may also refer to:
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'', a 1658 philosophical treatise by Sir Thomas Browne concerning interconnections in art and science involving the number five and the quincunx pattern*''Mistress Masham's Repose'', a 1946 novel by T. H. White in which a lake in the grounds of Maria's estate is called the Quincunx*''The Quincunx of Time'', a 1973 science fiction novel by James Blish; the title refers to an orchard in the Academy of Plato, planted in a quincunx pattern*''The Avignon Quintet'', a set of five novels that its author, Lawrence Durrell, described as forming a quincunx; the fifth, ''Quinx'' (1985), has a plot that includes the discovery of a stone quincunx pattern*''The Quincunx'', a 1989 novel by Charles Palliser that traces five related families over five generations*''The Quincunx Cycle'', a series of novels begun in 2014 written 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
Other uses *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