pintle

English

Alternative forms

• pintel

Etymology

From Middle English pyntel, from Old English pintel (“penis”), from Proto-Germanic *pint- (“protrusion”), from Proto-Indo-European *bend- (“peg, tip, protruding point, edge”), equivalent to pin +‎ -le. Cognate with Middle Low German pint (“male member, penis”), West Flemish pint (“tip”), Norwegian dialectal pintol (“penis”). More at pin, pen.

Pronunciation

An illustration of a pintle and a gudgeon (etymology 2, sense 1) which fits into it to form a pivoting joint.

A rudder system of a boat making use of pintles (blue, number 2) and gudgeons (etymology 2, sense 1.1; green, number 3).

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪntəl/
• Rhymes: -ɪntəl

Noun

pintle (plural pintles)

1. (now dialectal) The penis.

   Synonym: tarse

2. (fashion) A pin on the buckle of a belt used to fit into the holes of the belt and hold it at the desired level of tightness.
3. (nautical) A pin or bolt, usually vertical, which acts as a pivot for a hinge or a rudder.
   • 2005, James Meek, The People’s Act of Love, Canongate, published 2006, page 31:

     The train had a searchlight mounted on a pintle on a flat car.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:pintle.
4. (gunnery) An iron pin used to control recoil of a cannon or around which a gun carriage revolves.

Translations

pivot for a hinge

• Dutch: pen (nl) c, stift (nl) c
• Finnish: saranatappi
• French: broche (fr) f, tige (fr) f
• German: Achse (de) f, Stift (de) m
• Ottoman Turkish: ایكنه (iğne)

Anagrams

• leptin, pintel

Scots

Etymology

From Middle Scots pintel, from Middle English pyntel.

Noun

pintle (plural pintles)

1. the penis

References

• “pintle” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.