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pinion

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pin⋅ion

1  [pin-yuhn]
–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.
Use pinion in a Sentence
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
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Pinion
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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. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To pinion
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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Word Origin & History

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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