quoin

[ koin, kwoin ]
See synonyms for quoin on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an external solid angle of a wall or the like.

  2. one of the stones forming it; cornerstone.

  1. any of various bricks of standard shape for forming corners of brick walls or the like.

  2. a wedge-shaped piece of wood, stone, or other material, used for any of various purposes.

  3. Printing. a wedge of wood or metal for securing type in a chase.

verb (used with object)
  1. to provide with quoins, as a corner of a wall.

  2. to secure or raise with a quoin or wedge.

Origin of quoin

1
First recorded in 1525–35; variant of coin
  • Also coign, coigne [koin]. /kɔɪn/.

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

How to use quoin in a sentence

  • It is of dark red brick with gray stone quoins and corners and blue and gray marble pillars.

  • On the right, the mountains, like so many pyramids, descend in long regular quoins.

    A Tour Through The Pyrenees | Hippolyte Adolphe Taine
  • Each wing terminates in a cupola, and the angles have rustic quoins.

    The Town | Leigh Hunt
  • The Hempel style of metal quoins are well adapted for this purpose.

    Typesetting | A. A. Stewart
  • This is held in place by pushing in a few wooden wedges or quoins.

    Typesetting | A. A. Stewart

British Dictionary definitions for quoin

quoin

coign or coigne

/ (kwɔɪn, kɔɪn) /


noun
  1. an external corner of a wall

  2. Also called: cornerstone a stone forming the external corner of a wall

  1. another name for keystone (def. 1)

  2. printing a metal or wooden wedge or an expanding mechanical device used to lock type up in a chase

  3. a wedge used for any of various other purposes, such as (formerly) to adjust elevation in muzzle-loading cannon

Origin of quoin

1
C16: variant of coin (corner)

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