What does cinq mean?
Cinq is a noun meaning the number five, adopted into English directly from the French word for that numeral. Its use is largely confined to card games and dice games, where it denotes a card of rank five or a throw of five on the dice. Because it entered English through gaming circles, it retains a distinctly old-world, slightly formal flavor, and it now appears mainly in historical accounts of games, gambling literature, and crossword puzzles rather than everyday speech. In most modern contexts players simply say 'five,' though the closely related borrowing 'cinque' — from Italian and Spanish sources — survives somewhat more actively in game terminology. Cinq derives ultimately from the Latin quinque, the same root that gives English words such as quintet and quintuple, making it part of a small family of Latinate number words that enrich the language's vocabulary for counting and scoring.
nounThe number five, used especially in card games and dice games to denote a card or throw worth five points.
- The number five, especially as a card or die face valued at five in games.
"She discarded a cinq and drew two new cards from the deck."
"He rolled a cinq on his first throw of the dice."
"With a cinq showing, she knew she needed an ace to win the trick."
A regular plural, though rarely needed since the word typically refers to individual cards or throws.
"The hand contained three cinqs and two kings."
Cinq is simply the French word for five — English borrowed it wholesale so gamblers could sound continental at the card table.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cinq
Cinq comes directly from the modern French word for five, which descends from Latin quinque, the classical term for the numeral. English borrowed it during the period when French was the prestige language of fashionable society and gaming, adopting it alongside other French terms used at the card table and dice box. It shares its ultimate Latin origin with related borrowings such as cinque, quintet, and quintuple, all of which preserve traces of the same ancient root.
How cinq is actually used
Cinq is chiefly a gaming and gambling term, borrowed directly from French; it appears mostly in older or formal card-game literature and has largely been replaced in everyday play by the plainer 'five' or by 'cinque'. It carries a faintly old-fashioned, continental flavor.
Easily confused with cinq
Cinque (from Italian/Spanish) is the more common term for the number five in card and dice games, while cinq is the French-derived spelling of the same numeral.
Sink is a verb meaning to descend or go below the surface, whereas cinq is a noun meaning the number five.