the highest or culminating point, as of success, power, fame, etc.: the pinnacle of one's career.
3.
any pointed, towering part or formation, as of rock.
4.
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)
5.
to place on or as on a pinnacle.
6.
to form a pinnacle on; crown.
[Origin: 1300–50; ME pinacle < MF < LL pinnāculum gable, equiv. to L pinn(a) raised part of a parapet, lit., wing, feather (see pinna) + -āculum; see tabernacle]
c.1300, from O.Fr. pinacle (1261), from L.L. pinnaculum "gable," dim. of pinna "peak, point," often confused with penna "wing, feather." Fig. use is attested from c.1400.
(architecture) a slender upright spire at the top of a buttress of tower
2.
the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development; "his landscapes were deemed the acme of beauty"; "the artist's gifts are at their acme"; "at the height of her career"; "the peak of perfection"; "summer was at its peak"; "...catapulted Einstein to the pinnacle of fame"; "the summit of his ambition"; "so many highest superlatives achieved by man"; "at the top of his profession"
3.
a lofty peak
verb
1.
surmount with a pinnacle; "pinnacle a pediment"
2.
raise on or as if on a pinnacle; "He did not want to be pinnacled"
Pin"na*cle\, n. [OE. pinacle, F. pinacle, L. pinnaculum, fr. pinna pinnacle, feather. See Pin a peg.]1. (Arch.) An architectural member, upright, and generally ending in a small spire, -- used to finish a buttress, to constitute a part in a proportion, as where pinnacles flank a gable or spire, and the like. Pinnacles may be considered primarily as added weight, where it is necessary to resist the thrust of an arch, etc. Some renowned metropolis With glistering spires and pinnacles around. --Milton. 2. Anything resembling a pinnacle; a lofty peak; a pointed summit. Three silent pinnacles of aged snow. --Tennyson. The slippery tops of human state, The gilded pinnacles of fate. --Cowley.