pinnacle
oxford
views updated May 29 2018pin·na·cle / ˈpinəkəl/ •
n. a high, pointed piece of rock. ∎ a small pointed turret built as an ornament on a roof. ∎ the most successful point; the culmination: he had reached the pinnacle of his career.•
v. [tr.] poetic/lit. set on or as if on a pinnacle: a rustic cross was pinnacled upon the makeshift altar. ∎ form the culminating point or example of.DERIVATIVES: pin·na·cled adj.
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
pinnacle
oxford
views updated May 23 2018pinnacle. Ornamental pyramid or cone, the terminating feature of a
buttress,
parapet-angle,
spire,
turret, etc., often ornamented with
crockets. (See following illustration.)
A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture JAMES STEVENS CURL
pinnacle
oxford
views updated May 23 2018pinnacle pointed turret; mountain-peak XIV; highest pitch or point XV. — OF.
pin(n)acle (mod.
pinacle) — late L.
pinnāculum, dim. of L.
pinna feather, wing, pinnacle; see
PIN,
-CLE.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
