quintile

noun

quin·​tile ˈkwin-ˌtī(-ə)l 

: any of the four values that divide the items of a frequency distribution into five classes with each containing one fifth of the total population

also : any one of the five classes

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Breaking Down the Meaning of Quintile

Many people have a deep interest in statistics about themselves, whether the information provided is about income, ice-cream consumption, or trash production. And any such rating can be divided into fifths, or quintiles. The fifth or lowest quintile would include the 20 percent of the population who make the least money or eat the least ice cream or generate the least trash, and the first quintile would include the 20 percent who make, eat, or generate the most.

Examples of quintile in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Goldman Sachs finds that households in the lowest income quintile spend roughly four times as much on gasoline as a share of after-tax income compared to those at the top. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 21 Apr. 2026

Companies in this cohort are less likely to be distressed compared to their peers in the first quintile – that is, firms offering the highest dividend yield. —Darla Mercado, Cfp®, CNBC, 16 Apr. 2026

The middle income quintile — consumers making $50,000 to $100,000 a year — represents roughly 30 percent of Academy’s customers and is holding steady. —Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 9 Dec. 2025

Those in the top two quintiles of midlife physical activity were associated with a 40% lower all-cause dementia risk over a 26-year period, compared to those with the lowest activity level. —Amy McGorry, FOXNews.com, 28 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin quintus + English -ile entry 2

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for quintile

• lintel
• pintle
• quintal