Meaning & use
quintuple
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounformal
Made up of five parts or members, or five times as large as something else.
Grammar: Usually comes before the noun: a quintuple bypass, a quintuple alliance.
Patterns
- quintuple something
The surgeon performed a quintuple bypass on the patient's heart.
The company reported quintuple earnings compared with the year before.
The treaty created a quintuple alliance of five neighboring states.
verbtransitive or intransitiveformal
To make something five times larger, or to become five times larger.
Grammar: Takes an object when you cause the growth: quintuple the budget; no object when it grows by itself: sales quintupled.
Patterns
- quintuple something
- something quintuples
The startup managed to quintuple its user base in a single year.
Prices quintupled during the shortage.
They hope to quintuple production once the new factory opens.
nouncountablerare
A number or amount that is five times another, or a set of five things.
Grammar: Rare as a noun; it usually appears in mathematics or in talk of a fivefold increase.
Patterns
- a quintuple of something
The data was arranged as a quintuple of numbers in the table.
Investors were hoping for a quintuple on their original stake.
A quintuple of values defines each record in this database.
Word forms
| third person singular | quintuples |
|---|---|
| past tense | quintupled |
| past participle | quintupled |
| -ing form | quintupling |
Common combinations
- quintuple bypass
- His father recovered well after a quintuple bypass.
- quintuple in size
- The city has quintupled in size since 1950.
- quintuple the amount
- The new law would quintuple the amount of the fine.
- quintuple in value
- Rare stamps like these can quintuple in value in a decade.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fivefold
- Fivefold is the everyday word and works as an adjective or adverb, while quintuple sounds more technical.
- multiply by five
- This plain phrase says exactly the same thing in ordinary language, with no formal tone.
- quintuplicate
- Quintuplicate is a rarer verb or adjective that often refers to five copies of a document.
Word family
- quintuplet noun
- one of five children born at the same birth
- quintet noun
- a group of five musicians or singers
- quintuplicate adjective
- made in five copies
- quintillion number
- a very large number, 1 followed by 18 zeros in the US
Commonly confused: quintuple or quintuplet?
quintuple vs quintuplet
A quintuplet is one of five babies born together. Quintuple describes the fivefold quantity or the act of multiplying by five.
Practice
If sales quintupled, they became ___ what they had been.
Choose one answer.
Quintuple means to multiply by five. Four times would be quadruple, which is the tempting wrong option.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “quintuple”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.