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

Savita Subramanian, equity and quantitative strategist, on Tuesday released a screen for the second quintile of the Russell 1000 by trailing dividend yield. —Alex Harring, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2024

Tax loss selling To pick out the names that are likely to see tax loss selling pressure as the year winds down, Morgan Stanley scanned the S & P 1500, seeking stocks in the top quintile of Wall Street investment ratings on Jan. 16 as a proxy for stocks that are widely held. —Darla Mercado, Cfp®, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2024

The investment bank combed through the Russell 3000 for stocks that are in the top quintiles for momentum, sentiment and buybacks. —Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 19 Sep. 2024

And the pain would not be evenly divided among families, the Peterson Institute found: Although households in all five income quintiles would lose money from the Trump tariffs and tax cuts, the lowest earners would be hurt the most. —Matt Egan, CNN, 5 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin quintus + English -ile entry 2

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above