piolet

[pee-uh-ley]

noun

an ice ax used in mountaineering.

Origin of piolet

1865–70; < French < Franco-Provençal; compare piolet, pioula, derivatives of apia ax ≪ Germanic; see hatchet

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British Dictionary definitions for piolet

piolet

noun

a type of ice axe

Word Origin for piolet

C19: from French (Savoy) dialect piola axe

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

Word Origin and History for piolet

1868, from Savoy French piolet "climber's ice-axe" (19c.), diminutive of piolo "axe," perhaps from Medieval Latin piola "plane, scraper."