shingle

¹

[shing-guhl]

noun

1. a thin piece of wood, slate, metal, asbestos, or the like, usually oblong, laid in overlapping rows to cover the roofs and walls of buildings.

2. a woman's close-cropped haircut.

3. Informal.,  a small signboard, especially as hung before a doctor's or lawyer's office.

verb (used with object)

shingled, shingling 

1. to cover with shingles, as a roof.

2. to cut (hair) close to the head.

shingle

²

[shing-guhl]

noun

1. small, waterworn stones or pebbles such as lie in loose sheets or beds on a beach.

2. a beach, riverbank, or other area covered with such small pebbles or stones.

shingle

³

[shing-guhl]

verb (used with object)

Metalworking.

shingled, shingling 

1. to hammer or squeeze (puddled iron) into a bloom or billet, eliminating as much slag as possible; knobble.

shingle

¹

/ ˈʃɪŋɡəl /

noun

1. a thin rectangular tile, esp one made of wood, that is laid with others in overlapping rows to cover a roof or a wall

2. a woman's short-cropped hairstyle

3. a small signboard or nameplate fixed outside the office of a doctor, lawyer, etc

4. informal,  unintelligent or mentally subnormal

verb

1. to cover (a roof or a wall) with shingles

2. to cut (the hair) in a short-cropped style

shingle

²

/ ˈʃɪŋɡəl /

noun

1. coarse gravel, esp the pebbles found on beaches

2. a place or area strewn with shingle

shingle

³

/ ˈʃɪŋɡəl /

verb

1. (tr) metallurgy to hammer or squeeze the slag out of (iron) after puddling in the production of wrought iron

Other Word Forms

• shingler noun
• shingly adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shingle¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English scincle, sc(h)ingle, shyngle, ultimately from Latin scindula, variant of scandula “lath, shingle” ( Middle English -g- is unexplained); Latin scindula is due perhaps to association with Greek schíza, schídax “piece of split wood, splinter”

Origin of shingle²

First recorded in 1530–40; apparently variant of earlier chingle; further origin uncertain; but compare North Frisian singel “gravel,” Norwegian singel “small stones”

Origin of shingle³

First recorded in 1665–75; from French cingler “to whip, beat,” from German zängeln “to shingle,” derivative of Zange “pincers, pliers”; tong

Word History and Origins

Origin of shingle¹

C12 scingle, from Late Latin scindula a split piece of wood, from Latin scindere to split

Origin of shingle²

C16: of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian singl pebbles, Frisian singel gravel

Origin of shingle³

C17: from Old French dialect chingler to whip, from chingle belt, from Latin cingula girdle; see _cingulum

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. hang out one's shingle, to establish a professional practice, especially in law or medicine; open an office.

2. have / be a shingle short, to be mentally disturbed, mad, or eccentric.

see hang out one's shingle.

Example Sentences

One early finding from recent studies in the Nature journals: The shingles vaccines Zostavax and Shingrix may reduce the risk of cognitive decline later in life.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Some include textured shakes and shingles, or especially wide rafters, giving them the nickname “airplane bungalows.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Dona Elliott, 59, owns this combination country store and saloon, built in 1929 of clapboard and shingles, uphill from the river and hard by a narrow woodland road.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Some people who have had chickenpox develop a related condition called shingles later in life.

Read more on BBC

The host quipped that if he would have attended the show he would have had “double shingles.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• affidavit 
• authentication 
• authorization 
• certification 
• coupon 
• credential 
• deed 
• diploma 
• documentation 
• guarantee 
• license 
• paper 
• permit 
• receipt 
• ticket 
• voucher 
• warrant 
• warranty