pendant
[pen-duh nt]
- a hanging ornament, as an earring or the main piece suspended from a necklace.
- an ornament suspended from a roof, vault, or ceiling.
- a hanging electrical lighting fixture; chandelier.
- that by which something is suspended, as the ringed stem of a watch.
- a match, parallel, companion, or counterpart.
- Also pennant. Nautical. a length of rope attached to a masthead, the end of a yardarm, etc., and having a block or thimble secured to its free end.
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Origin of pendant
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pendant
Contemporary Examples
It was made by society jewelers Garrard, who refashioned the gems from a pendant she was given by her husband, George VI.
The pendant light is a flotilla of hot air balloons hand blown in glass.
It had a pendant that looked like a house, which to me signifies warmth and happiness.
No one else will promise your milk won't turn yellow after receiving your pendant.
The pendant at the end of her gold-chain necklace dangles over her cleavage like an arrow pointing downward.
Historical Examples
This action of Congress is a pendant to the Academy of Sciences.
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863Adam Gurowski
You'd have to ask any one to the wedding who gave you a pendant like that.
Howards EndE. M. Forster
Mr. Martin himself was no unworthy "pendant" to this portrait.
The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. I (of II)Charles James Lever
One face of this pendant was covered with scratches in a vandyked pattern.
The Clyde MysteryAndrew Lang
A form of connection which has struts attached to a pendant post.
Carpentry for BoysJ. S. Zerbe
pendant
- an ornament that hangs from a piece of jewellery
- a necklace with such an ornament
- a hanging light, esp a chandelier
- a carved ornament that is suspended from a ceiling or roof
- something that matches or complements something else
- Also called: pennant nautical a length of wire or rope secured at one end to a mast or spar and having a block or other fitting at the lower end
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- a variant spelling of pendent
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from pendre to hang, from Latin pendēre to hang down; related to Latin pendere to hang, pondus weight, Greek span to pull
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for pendant
n.
early 14c., "loose, hanging part of anything," from Anglo-French pendaunt "hanging" (c.1300), Old French pendant (13c.), noun use of present participle of pendre "to hang," from Latin pendere "to hang," from PIE root *(s)pen(d)- "to pull, draw, stretch" (see span (v.)). Meaning "dangling part of an earring" is attested from 1550s. Nautical sense of "tapering flag" is recorded from late 15c. "In this sense presumably a corruption of pennon" [OED].
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper