pinnaculum

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word pinnaculum. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word pinnaculum, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say pinnaculum in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word pinnaculum you have here. The definition of the word pinnaculum will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofpinnaculum, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

Latin

Etymology

From pinna (“plume, wing; parapet”). Pinnāculum appears in the Vulgate as a calque of Ancient Greek πτερύγιον (pterúgion, “pinnacle”), diminutive of πτέρυξ (ptérux, “wing”) (alternative translations of the Greek include fastīgium and pinna itself).[1] Therefore, the end of the word appears to be the neuter form of the Latin diminutive suffix -culus. However, pinnāculum is not a regularly formed diminutive: there is an irregular change of gender from the feminine base and an unexpected -ā- between the base and the suffix. The form may have been influenced by that of nouns ending in -āculum that were derived from the instrument noun suffix -culum: the Oxford English Dictionary suggests that the form pinnāculum was possibly based on analogy with prōpugnāculum (“bulwark, rampart”), from prōpugnō +‎ -culum.[2]

Pronunciation

Noun

pinnāculum n (genitive pinnāculī); second declension

  1. (Late Latin) a peak, pinnacle
    • c. 160 CE – c. 225 CE, Tertullian, Adversus Iudaeos 8.1:
      Itaque requirenda tempora praedicta et futurae nativitatis Christi et passionis eius et exterminii civitatis Hierusalem id est vastationis eius. Dicit enim Daniel et civitatem sanctam et sanctum exterminari cum duce venturo et destrui pinnaculum usque ad interitum.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

singular plural
nominative pinnāculum pinnācula
genitive pinnāculī pinnāculōrum
dative pinnāculō pinnāculīs
accusative pinnāculum pinnācula
ablative pinnāculō pinnāculīs
vocative pinnāculum pinnācula

Descendants

References

  1. ^ Burton, Philip (2002) The Old Latin Gospels: A Study of their Texts and Language, page 195
  2. ^ “pinnacle, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2022.

Further reading

  • “pinnaculum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • pinnaculum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • pinnaculum in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia