A more thorough explanation:

Quinquepartite (kwin[g]-kwə-pahr-tait) is a Latin word that means "in five parts." In history, it refers to something that is divided into five parts.

• A quinquepartite shield has five sections.
• The quinquepartite vaulting in the church was a masterpiece of Gothic architecture.
• The quinquepartite division of the Roman Empire was a political system that divided the empire into five parts.

These examples illustrate the definition of quinquepartite by showing how something can be divided into five parts. The shield has five sections, the vaulting in the church has five parts, and the Roman Empire was divided into five parts. All of these things are quinquepartite because they are divided into five parts.