Q.

Many Old English words are indifferently spelt withqu, ch,andc;such asquire, choir; quoif, coif,&c.

Quadra, R. Generally, any square or rectangular object; such as a table, plinth, or abacus.

Quadragesima, Chr. Lent is so called, because it hasfortydays.

Quadrans, R. (a fourth part). A small bronze coin worth the quarter of anas, or about a farthing.

Quadrant.An instrument for measuring celestial altitudes; superseded by theCircle. (SeeSextant.) (ConsultLalande,Astronomie, § 2311, &c., 3me edition).

Quadrantal, R. A square vessel used as a measure, the solid contents of which were exactly equal to an amphora. A standard model was kept in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

Quadrelle, O. E. A mace, with four lateral projections, ornamental like the leaves of a flower. (SeePlanché,Cycl. of Costume, Plate xii. 16.)

Quadrellus, Med. Lat. A quarrel for a cross-bow.

Quadriforis, R. A door folding into four leaves.

Quadriga, R. GenerallyQuadrigæ(Greekτετραορίαorτέθριππος). A chariot in which four horses were yoked abreast. The two strongest horses were harnessed under the yoke in the centre; the others were fastened on each side by means of ropes. (SeeCurrus.)

Quadrigatus, R. A silver denarius, so called from its having a quadriga on the reverse.

Quadrilateral.Four-sided.

Quadriliteral.Consisting of four letters.

Quadrille, Med. (It.squadriglia, dimin. ofsquadra—our “squadron”—a small party of troops drawn up in a square). Small parties of richly-caparisoned horsemen, who rode at tournaments and public festivals. The modern dance so called was introduced in 1808.

Quadriremis, R. A galley with four banks of rowers.

Quadrisomus, Chr. A sarcophagus with compartments for four bodies. One discovered in the Vatican cemetery at Rome contained the bodies of the first four popes called Leo. (Cf.Bisomus.)

Quadrivalves, Arch. (SeeQuadriforis.)

Quadrivium(lit. of four ways). The four minor arts of arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. (SeeTrivium.)

Quadrivium, R. A place where four roads meet.

Quadrumane.Having four prehensile hands or feet, like monkeys.

Quadruplatores, R. Public informers, who were rewarded with afourth partof the criminal’s property on obtaining a conviction.

Quæstiones Perpetuæ, R. Permanent tribunals established at Rome to take cognizance of criminal cases.

Quæstorium, R. In a Roman camp, thequæstor’stent; this was in some cases near the porta decumana, or the rear of the camp; in others, on one side of thePrætorium(q.v.).

Quaich,Queish, orQuegh, Scotch. An old-fashioned drinking-cup or bowl, with two handles. (EnglishMaser[?].)

Quality-binding, Scotch. A kind of worsted tape used in the borders of carpets.

Qualus, R. (Gr.Kalathos, q.v.). A wicker-work basket.

Quandary, O. E. (from Fr.qu’en dirai-je?). Doubt and perplexity.

Quannet.A tool for working in horn and tortoise-shell.

Quarnellus, Med., in fortification. (SeeCrenel.)

Quarrel(Fr.carreau), Arch. A lozenge-shaped brick, stone, or pane of glass; a glazier’s diamond.

Quarrel, O. E. An arrow for the cross-bow with a four-square head.

Quarter-deck, on a ship of war. The deck abaft the mainmast, appropriated to the commissioned officers. These were originally of great height, corresponding with the lofty forecastle for soldiers, and helped to make the ships top-heavy and unmanageable. A commission on ship-building in 1618 says,—

“They must bee somewhat snugg built, without double gallarys, and too lofty upper workes, which overcharge many shipps, and make them coeme faire, but not worke well at sea.”

Quarter-galleryof a ship. A balcony round the stem.

Quarter-round, Arch. The ovolo moulding (q.v.).

Quarter-tones(Gr.diesis), in Music, were the subject of much discussion among the ancient Greeks, but they were used on the lyre for an occasional “grace-note.” Aristoxenos says “no voice could sing three of them in succession, neither can the singer singlessthan the quarter-tone correctly, nor the hearer judge of it.” (ConsultChappell’s Hist. of Music.)

Fig. 568. Royal Arms of England,temp.Edward III., quartered with the fleur-de-lys of France.

Quartering, Her. Marshalling two or more coats of arms in the different quarters of the same shield. (Fig.568.)

Quartet,Quartetto, It. A piece of music for four performers, each of whose parts isobligato, i. e. essential to the music.

Quartile.In Astronomy, distant from each other 90 degrees, or aquarterof a circle.

Quasillum(dimin. ofQualus, q.v.) was a small basket in which the quantity of wool was measured, which was assigned to a slave to spin in a day’s work.

Fig. 569. Quatrefoil.

Quatrefoil.An ornament in pointed architecture consisting of four foils. The term is likewise applied to a rosace formed of four divisions, which figures frequently in the upper part of pointed windows.

QuatrefoilorPrimrose, Her. A flower or figure having four foils or conjoined leaves.

Quattrocento, It. (lit.four hundred). A term applied to the characteristic style of the artists who practised in the 15th century; it was hard, and peculiar in colour as well as in form and pose. It was the intermediate of that progressive period of art, which, commencing with Fra Angelico, Masaccio, Mantegna, Botticelli, and other celebrated painters, betweenA. D.1400 and 1500, reached excellence in the 16th century (thecinque-cento) with Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.

Quaver.A musical note of very short time = half a crotchet.

Fig. 570. Crown of Her Majesty the Queen.

Queen.Crown of Her Majesty. (See Fig.570.)

Queen-post(ancientlyprick-postorside-post), Arch. An upright post similar in use and position to theKing-post, but rising, not in the centre to the point of the gable, but midway between the wall and the centre.

Queen’s Boots.The interesting fact in English archæology is not generally known, that Her Majesty’sbootsare provided for by an annual tax of two shillings (on the whole) upon the village of Ketton in Rutlandshire “pro ocreis reginæ.”

Queen’s Ware.A cream-coloured glazed earthenware of the Wedgwood manufacture at Burslem, 1759–70.

Queen’s Yellow.A colour formed from the subsulphate of mercury.

Queintise, O. E. A dress curiously cut or ornamented. (SeeCointoise.)

Querpo(forCuerpo). Partly undressed.

Querpo-hood.A hood worn by the Puritans. (P.)

“No face of mine shall by my friends be viewedIn Quaker’s pinner, or inquerpo-hood.”(Archæologia, vol. xxvii.)

“No face of mine shall by my friends be viewed

In Quaker’s pinner, or inquerpo-hood.”

(Archæologia, vol. xxvii.)

Queshews, O. E.Cuisses; armour for the thighs.

Queue, Fr. A support for a lance. It was a large piece of iron screwed to the back of the breastplate, curved downward to hold down the end of the lance.

Queue Fourchée, Her. Having a double tail, or two tails.

Quichuas.Remarkable specimens of pottery, from this Peruvian coast province, doubtless of remote antiquity, resemble in their freedom from conventionality and successful imitation of natural forms all primitive Egyptian and other sculpture. Jacquemart describes the vase of the illustration (on page214) as thechef-d’œuvreof American ceramics; and, from the close resemblance of the features of the figure represented to certain groups of prisoners on the Egyptian bas-reliefs, as well as to the ethnic type of the ancient Japanese kings, makes important deductions with reference to the dispersion of mankind, and the commerce of the old and new worlds in prehistoric times.

Quicksilver, alloyed with tinfoil, forms the reflecting surface of looking-glasses, and is largely used in the operations of gilding and silvering metals.

Quilled, Her. A term used to blazon the quills offeathers; thus a blue feather having its quill golden is blazoned—a featheraz., quilled or. (Boutell.)

Quiltsfor bed-coverings, in England, were formerly made of embroidered linen with emblems of the evangelists in the four corners. At Durham, in 1446, in the dormitory of the priory was a quilt “cum iiijorevangelistis in corneriis.” The Very Rev. Daniel Rock (Textile Fabrics) suggests that this gave rise to the old nursery rhyme:—

“Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,Bless the bed that I lie on.”

“Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,

Bless the bed that I lie on.”

Quinarius.A Roman coin = half adenarius, or five asses.

Quincaillerie, Fr. A general term for all kinds of metallurgical work in copper, brass, iron, &c.

Fig. 571. Quince. Device of the Sforzas.

Quince, Her. The “Pomo cotogno,” the emblem of the town of Cotignola, adopted by the founder of the Sforza family who was born there. The Emperor Robert of Bavaria added a lion in 1401 as a reward of an act of bravery, to “support thequincewith his left hand and defend it with his right,” adding “guai a chi lo tocchi!” (Fig.571.)

Quincunx, R. (i. e. five-twelfths of anything). (1) A Roman bronze coin, equivalent to five-twelfths of anas, and weighing five ounces (unciæ). (2) An arrangement of five objects in a square; one at each corner, and one in the middle. (3) Ingardening, said of trees planted in oblique rows of three and two, or in aquincunx(No. 2).

Quincupedal, R. A rod five feet in length, for taking measurements in masonry.

Quindecagon.A plane figure having fifteen sides and fifteen angles.

Quinite.A Spanish textile of hair with silk or other thread.

Quinquagesima, Chr. Thefiftiethday before Easter; Shrove Sunday. (S.)

Quinquatrus(or —ia), R. Festivals of Minerva, celebrated on the 19th of March. They lasted five days; on the first no blood was shed, but on the last four there were contests of gladiators. Another festival calledQuinquatrus minores, also in honour of Minerva, was celebrated on the ides of June.

Quinquennalia, R. Games celebrated every four years at Rome; instituted by Nero,A. D.60. They consisted of music, gymnastical contests, and horse-races.

Quinqueremis, R. A galley with five banks of oars.

Quinquertium, R. (Gr.Pentathlon). A gymnastic contest of Greek origin, so called because it consisted of five exercises, viz.leaping,running,wrestling,throwing the discus, andthrowing the spear. Introduced in the Olympic games in Ol. 18.

Quintain, O. E. A post set up to be tilted at by mounted soldiers; sometimes a man turning on a pivot; sometimes a flat board, on a pivot, with a heavy bag of sand at the other end, which knocked the tilter on the back if he charged unskilfully. (SeeStrutt,Sports and Pastimes, p. 89, Plates ix. and x.)

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 afifthof a circle.

Quippa, Peruv. (lit. a knot). A fringe of knotted and particoloured threads, used to record events in ancient Mexico.

QuipposorQuippus, Peruv. A plaited cord of strings of different colours and lengths, used as a substitute for writing among the ancient Peruvians.

Quire.O. E. forChoir.

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 calledStultorum feriæ. (SeeFornacalia.)

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, andQwissinge. 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.

“A shefe of peacock arwes bryght and keneUnder his belthe bare ful thriftely.”(Chaucer.)

“A shefe of peacock arwes bryght and kene

Under his belthe bare ful thriftely.”

(Chaucer.)

Quivers were probably introduced into England in the 15th century.

QuoiforCoif, O. E. A close-fitting cap worn by both sexes, and by lawyers,temp.Elizabeth.

QuoinorCoin. (1) Arch. The external angle of a building. (2) O. E. A wedge.

Quoits.A very ancient game derived from the RomanDiscus(q.v.).

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