aiguille

See also: aiguillé

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French aiguille (“needle”).

Pronunciation

Noun

aiguille (plural aiguilles)

  1. A needle-shaped peak. [from 19th c.]
    • 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC:
      Mont Blanc, the supreme and magnificent Mont Blanc, raised itself from the surrounding aiguilles, and its tremendous dome overlooked the valley.
  2. An instrument for boring holes, used in blasting.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “aiguille”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 “aiguille”, in Collins English Dictionary.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 “aiguille”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 “aiguille”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Old French aguille, from Late Latin acūcula, diminutive of Latin acus (“needle”). Perhaps influenced phonetically by aiguiser. Compare Occitan agulha.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛ.ɡɥij/ ~ /e.ɡɥij/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio (Paris):(file)
  • Homophones: aiguillent, aiguilles, Éguilles

Noun

aiguille f (plural aiguilles)

  1. (botany, costumery, medicine) needle
    aiguille à tricoter ― knitting needle
    de fil en aiguille ― one thing leading to another
    chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin ― to look for a needle in a haystack
    talon aiguille ― stiletto heel
  2. needle (of a compass)
  3. hand (of a watch)
    aiguille des secondes ― second hand
    aiguille des minutes ― minute hand
    aiguille des heures ― hour hand
    dans le sens des aiguilles d'une montre ― clockwise
  4. spire (of a church)
  5. (railway) point, switch
    Coordinate term: aiguillage

Derived terms

See also

Verb

aiguille

  1. inflection of aiguiller:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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