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icicle - 4 dictionary results

i⋅ci⋅cle

  [ahy-si-kuhl]
Use icicle in a Sentence
–noun
1. a pendent, tapering mass of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water.
2. a thin strip of paper, plastic, or foil, usually silvery, for hanging on a Christmas tree as decoration.
3. a cold, unemotional person.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME isikel, OE īsgicel, equiv. to īs ice + gicel icicle; akin to ON jǫkul mass of ice, glacier

Related forms:
i⋅ci⋅cled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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i·ci·cle   (ī'sĭ-kəl)   
n.  
  1. A tapering spike of ice formed by the freezing of dripping or falling water.
  2. Informal An aloof or emotionally unresponsive person.

[Middle English isikel : is, ice; see ice + ikel, icicle (from Old English gicel; see yeg- in Indo-European roots).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Icicle

I"ci*cle\, n. [OE. isikel, AS. [=i]sgicel; [=i]s ice + gicel icicle; akin to Icel. j["o]kull; cf. Gael. eigh ice, Ir. aigh.] A pendent, and usually conical, mass of ice, formed by freezing of dripping water; as, the icicles on the eaves of a house.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : icicle
Spanish: carámbano,
German: der Eiszapfen,
Japanese: つらら
More Translations »

icicle 
M.E. isykle, from is "ice" + ikel "icicle," from O.E. gicel (rel. to cylegicel "cold ice"), from P.Gmc. *jekilaz (cf. O.N. jaki "piece of ice," dim. jökull "icicle, ice, glacier"). Dialectical ickle "icicle" survived into 20c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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