_Many Old English words are indifferently spelt with_ qu, ch, _and_ c;
_such as_ quire, 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 has _forty_ days.
=Quadrans=, R. (a fourth part). A small bronze coin worth the quarter of
an _as_, or about a farthing.
=Quadrant.= An instrument for measuring celestial altitudes; superseded
by the CIRCLE. (See SEXTANT.) (Consult _Lalande_, _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. (See _Planché_, _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. Generally =Quadrigæ= (Greek τετραορία or τέθριππος). 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. (See CURRUS.)
=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. of _squadra_—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. (See QUADRIFORIS.)
=Quadrivium= (lit. of four ways). The four minor arts of arithmetic,
music, geometry, and astronomy. (See TRIVIUM.)
=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 a _fourth
part_ of 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, the _quæstor’s_ tent; this was in some
cases near the porta decumana, or the rear of the camp; in others, on
one side of the PRÆTORIUM (q.v.).
=Quaich=, =Queish=, or =Quegh=, Scotch. An old-fashioned drinking-cup or
bowl, with two handles. (English MASER [?].)
=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. (See CRENEL.)
=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-gallery= of 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 sing _less_ than the
quarter-tone correctly, nor the hearer judge of it.” (Consult
_Chappell’s Hist. of Music_.)
[Illustration: 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 is _obligato_, i. e. essential to the music.
=Quartile.= In Astronomy, distant from each other 90 degrees, or a
_quarter_ of a circle.
=Quasillum= (dimin. of QUALUS, 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.
[Illustration: 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.
=Quatrefoil= or =Primrose=, 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, between A. D. 1400 and 1500, reached excellence in the 16th
century (the _cinque-cento_) with Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.
=Quaver.= A musical note of very short time = half a crotchet.
[Illustration: Fig. 570. Crown of Her Majesty the Queen.]
=Queen.= Crown of Her Majesty. (See Fig. 570.)
=Queen-post= (anciently _prick-post_ or _side-post_), Arch. An upright
post similar in use and position to the KING-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’s _boots_ are 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. (See COINTOISE.)
=Querpo= (for =Cuerpo=). Partly undressed.
=Querpo-hood.= A hood worn by the Puritans. (_P._)
“No face of mine shall by my friends be viewed
In Quaker’s pinner, or in _querpo_-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 page 214) as the _chef-d’œuvre_ of 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 of _feathers_; thus a
blue feather having its quill golden is blazoned—a feather _az., quilled
or_. (_Boutell._)
=Quilts= for 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
iiij^{or} evangelistis 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.”
=Quinarius.= A Roman coin = half a _denarius_, or five asses.
=Quincaillerie=, Fr. A general term for all kinds of metallurgical work
in copper, brass, iron, &c.
[Illustration: 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 the _quince_ with 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 an _as_, and weighing five ounces
(_unciæ_). (2) An arrangement of five objects in a square; one at each
corner, and one in the middle. (3) In _gardening_, said of trees planted
in oblique rows of three and two, or in a _quincunx_ (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. The _fiftieth_ day 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
called _Quinquatrus 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_, and _throwing
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. (See _Strutt_, _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 a
_fifth_ of a circle.
=Quippa=, Peruv. (lit. a knot). A fringe of knotted and particoloured
threads, used to record events in ancient Mexico.
=Quippos= or =Quippus=, Peruv. A plaited cord of strings of different
colours and lengths, used as a substitute for writing among the ancient
Peruvians.
=Quire.= O. E. for CHOIR.
=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 called _Stultorum
feriæ_. (See FORNACALIA.)
=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=, and =Qwissinge=. 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 kene
_Under his belt_ he bare ful thriftely.”
(_Chaucer._)
Quivers were probably introduced into England in the 15th century.
=Quoif= or =Coif=, O. E. A close-fitting cap worn by both sexes, and by
lawyers, _temp._ Elizabeth.
=Quoin= or =Coin=. (1) Arch. The external angle of a building. (2) O. E.
A wedge.
=Quoits.= A very ancient game derived from the Roman DISCUS (q.v.).