pin⋅na⋅cle
[pin-uh-kuh
l] 
noun, verb, -cled, -cling.| 1. | a lofty peak. |
| 2. | 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. |
| 5. | to place on or as on a pinnacle. |
| 6. | to form a pinnacle on; crown. |
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
2. apex, acme, summit, zenith. 3. needle.
2. base.
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| pin·na·cle (pĭn'ə-kəl) n.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin pinnāculum, diminutive of Latin pinna, feather; see pet- in Indo-European roots.] |
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Pinnacle
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.Pinnacle
Pin"na*cle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pinnacled; p. pr. & vb. n. Pinnacling.] To build or furnish with a pinnacle or pinnacles. --T. Warton.Cite This Source
pinnacle
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Pinnacle
a little wing, (Matt. 4:5; Luke 4:9). On the southern side of the temple court was a range of porches or cloisters forming three arcades. At the south-eastern corner the roof of this cloister was some 300 feet above the Kidron valley. The pinnacle, some parapet or wing-like projection, was above this roof, and hence at a great height, probably 350 feet or more above the valley.
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pinnacle
in architecture, vertical ornament of pyramidal or conical shape, crowning a buttress, spire, or other architectural member. A pinnacle is distinguished from a finial by its greater size and complexity and from a tower or spire by its smaller size and subordinate architectural role. A tower may be decorated with pinnacles, each one capped by a finial.
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