quintet

noun

quin·​tet kwin-ˈtet 

1

: a musical composition or movement for five instruments or voices

2

: a group or set of five: such as

a

: the performers of a quintet

b

: a basketball team

Did you know?

A classical quintet is usually written for strings (usually two violins, two violas, and a cello) or woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn), but brass quintets (two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba) have also become popular in North America recently. In jazz, Miles Davis led two famous quintets. In pop music, the Miracles, the Temptations, and the Jackson 5 were immensely popular vocal quintets. In rock, one of the most common instrumental lineups has been a quintet consisting of two guitars, a bass, a keyboard, and drums; famous rock quintets have included the Grateful Dead and the Beach Boys.

Examples of quintet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Highland Park High School string quintet performed as the auditorium emptied. — Karie Angell Luc, Chicago Tribune, 14 Sep. 2026

This Nuggets quintet collectively played 360 minutes together across 23 games. — Law Murray, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026

This fourth full-length from the London jazz quintet traverses Black diasporic sound traditions — grime, reggae, Afrobeat — mulling over the question of how music so joyous can be rooted in histories of pain. — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 9 Sep. 2026

Martin captured the quintet’s live energy before adding synths, keyboards and vocoder to the proceedings. — Spin Staff, SPIN, 9 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

quintet from Italian quintetto, from quinto fifth, from Latin quintus; quintette from French, from Italian quintetto

First Known Use

1764, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for quintet

• abet
• asset
• baguette
• banquette
• barbette
• beget
• beset
• binet
• briquette
• brunet
• brunette
• burette

Kids Definition

quintet

noun

quin·​tet kwin-ˈtet 

1

a

: a musical composition for five instruments or voices

b

: the performers of a quintet

2

: a group or set of five