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Definition of pinion - 9 dictionary results

pin⋅ion

1  [pin-yuhn]
Use pinion in a Sentence
–noun
1. Machinery.
a. a gear with a small number of teeth, esp. one engaging with a rack or larger gear.
b. a shaft or spindle cut with teeth engaging with a gear.
2. Metalworking. a gear driving a roll in a rolling mill.
Origin:
1650–60; < F pignon cogwheel, MF peignon, deriv. of peigne comb, var. of pigne < L pectin- (s. of pecten) comb; see pecten

Related forms:
pin⋅ion⋅less, adjective
pin⋅ion⋅like, adjective

pin⋅ion

2  [pin-yuhn]
–noun
1. the distal or terminal segment of the wing of a bird consisting of the carpus, metacarpus, and phalanges.
2. the wing of a bird.
3. a feather.
4. the flight feathers collectively.
–verb (used with object)
5. to cut off the pinion of (a wing) or bind (the wings), as in order to prevent a bird from flying.
6. to disable or restrain (a bird) in such a manner.
7. to bind (a person's arms or hands) so they cannot be used.
8. to disable (someone) in such a manner; shackle.
9. to bind or hold fast, as to a thing: to be pinioned to one's bad habits.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME pynyon < MF pignon wing, pinion < VL *pinniōn (s. of pinniō), deriv. of L pinna feather, wing, fin
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pin·ion 1   (pĭn'yən)   
n.  
  1. The wing of a bird.
  2. The outer rear edge of the wing of a bird, containing the primary feathers.
  3. A primary feather of a bird.
tr.v.   pin·ioned, pin·ion·ing, pin·ions
    1. To remove or bind the wing feathers of (a bird) to prevent flight.
    2. To cut or bind (the wings of a bird).
    3. To restrain or immobilize (a person) by binding the arms.
    4. To bind (a person's arms).
    1. To restrain or immobilize (a person) by binding the arms.
    2. To bind (a person's arms).
  3. To bind fast or hold down; shackle.

[Middle English, from Old French pignon, from Vulgar Latin *pinniō, pinniōn-, from Latin penna, pinna, feather; see pinna.]
pin·ion 2   (pĭn'yən)   
n.  A small cogwheel that engages or is engaged by a larger cogwheel or a rack.

[French pignon, from Old French peignon, probably from peigne, comb, from Latin pecten, from pectere, to comb.]
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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Pinion

Pin"ion\, n. (Zo["o]l.) A moth of the genus Lithophane, as L. antennata, whose larva bores large holes in young peaches and apples.

Pinion

Pin"ion\, n. [OF. pignon a pen, F., gable, pinion (in sense 5); cf. Sp. pi[~n]on pinion; fr. L. pinna pinnacle, feather, wing. See Pin a peg, and cf. Pen a feather, Pennat, Pennon.]

1. A feather; a quill. --Shak.

2. A wing, literal or figurative.

Swift on his sooty pinions flits the gnome. --Pope.

3. The joint of bird's wing most remote from the body. --Johnson.

4. A fetter for the arm. --Ainsworth.

5. (Mech.) A cogwheel with a small number of teeth, or leaves, adapted to engage with a larger wheel, or rack (see Rack); esp., such a wheel having its leaves formed of the substance of the arbor or spindle which is its axis.

Lantern pinion. See under Lantern.

Pinion wire, wire fluted longitudinally, for making the pinions of clocks and watches. It is formed by being drawn through holes of the shape required for the leaves or teeth of the pinions.

Pinion

Pin"ion\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pinioned; p. pr. & vb. n. Pinioning.]

1. To bind or confine the wings of; to confine by binding the wings. --Bacon.

2. To disable by cutting off the pinion joint. --Johnson.

3. To disable or restrain, as a person, by binding the arms, esp. by binding the arms to the body. --Shak.

Her elbows pinioned close upon her hips. --Cowper.

4. Hence, generally, to confine; to bind; to tie up. "Pinioned up by formal rules of state." --Norris.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : pinion
Spanish: aguilón,
German: der Giebel,
Japanese: 切り妻
More Translations »

pinion  (1)
"wing joint," c.1440, from M.Fr. pignon (c.1400), from V.L. *pinnionem, from L. penna "wing" (see pen (1)). Verb meaning "disable by binding the arms" is from 1558, older than lit. sense "cut the pinions of a wing to prevent a bird from flying" (1577).

pinion  (2)
"small gear with teeth" (as in rack and pinion), 1659, from Fr. pignon, from O.Fr. pignon "crenellation, battlement," aug. of L. pinna "battlement, pinnacle;" confused with (but perhaps ult. a variant of) penna "wing, feather, peak" (see pen (1)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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