pinnacle

[ pin-uh-kuhl ]
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noun
  1. a lofty peak.

  2. the highest or culminating point, as of success, power, fame, etc.: the pinnacle of one's career.

  1. any pointed, towering part or formation, as of rock.

  2. Architecture. a relatively small, upright structure, commonly terminating in a gable, a pyramid, or a cone, rising above the roof or coping of a building, or capping a tower, buttress, or other projecting architectural member.

verb (used with object),pin·na·cled, pin·na·cling.
  1. to place on or as on a pinnacle.

  2. to form a pinnacle on; crown.

Origin of pinnacle

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pinacle, from Middle French, from Late Latin pinnāculum “gable,” equivalent to Latin pinn(a) “raised part of a parapet,” literally, “wing, feather ” (see pinna) + -āculum; see tabernacle

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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

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British Dictionary definitions for pinnacle

pinnacle

/ (ˈpɪnəkəl) /


noun
  1. the highest point or level, esp of fame, success, etc

  2. a towering peak, as of a mountain

  1. a slender upright structure in the form of a cone, pyramid, or spire on the top of a buttress, gable, or tower

verb(tr)
  1. to set on or as if on a pinnacle

  2. to furnish with a pinnacle or pinnacles

  1. to crown with a pinnacle

Origin of pinnacle

1
C14: via Old French from Late Latin pinnāculum a peak, from Latin pinna wing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012