pinnacle

English

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French pinacle, pinnacle, from Late Latin pinnaculum (“a peak, pinnacle”), double diminutive of Latin pinna (“a pinnacle”); see pin. Doublet of panache.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪnəkəl/

Noun

pinnacle (plural pinnacles)

1. The highest point.

   Antonym: nadir

2. A tall, sharp and craggy rock or mountain.
3. (figuratively) An all-time high; a point of greatest achievement or success.
   • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide‎^[1], page 7:

     The pinnacle of the effort to fix restrictive meanings to a set of terminology can be found in two papers in American Speech by Feinsilver (1979, 1980).

4. (architecture) An upright member, 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.
   • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Some renowned metropolis / With glistering spires and pinnacles around.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:apex

Translations

highest point

• Armenian: գագաթնակետ (hy) (gagatʻnaket)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 巔峰／巅峰 (zh) (diānfēng), 巅峰 (zh) (diānfēng)

• Czech: vrchol (cs), vrcholek m
• Dutch: top (nl) m, spits (nl) m
• Finnish: huippu (fi), huippukohta
• French: cime (fr)
• Georgian: მწვერვალი (mc̣vervali)
• German: Gipfel (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: pinnacolo (it) m, cima (it) f, picco (it) m, somma (it) f, guglia (it) f, cuspide (it) f
• Japanese: 頂上 (ja) (ちょうじょう, chōjō), 頂点 (ja) (ちょうてん, chōten)
• Malay: puncak
• Maori: karamata, karamatamata, taumata, tihi
• Russian: пик (ru) m (pik), вы́сшая то́чка f (výsšaja tóčka), верши́на (ru) f (veršína)
• Serbo-Croatian: vrh (sh), vrhunac (sh), врх m, врхунац m
• Spanish: cumbre (es) f
• Tagalog: karurukan

tall, sharp and craggy rock or mountain

• Czech: špice f, špička (cs) f
• Dutch: spits (nl) m
• Finnish: terävä huippu, kalliopaasi
• French: pic (fr)
• Georgian: მწვერვალი (mc̣vervali)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Felsnadel f, Felsturm m
• Italian: cima (it) f, picco (it) m
• Russian: остроконе́чная скала́ f (ostrokonéčnaja skalá)
• Serbo-Croatian: šiljak (sh), vrhunac (sh), vrh (sh)
• Spanish: pico (es) m

figuratively: all-time high

• Czech: (absolutní) špička f
• Dutch: toppunt (nl) n
• Finnish: kohokohta (fi), huippuhetki
• German: Höhepunkt (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: apogeo (it) m, culmine (it) m, apice (it) m
• Maori: karamata
• Russian: пик (ru) m (pik)
• Spanish: ápice (es) m

See also

• acme
• apex
• peak
• summit

Verb

1. To put something on a pinnacle.
2. To build or furnish with a pinnacle or pinnacles.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of T. Warton to this entry?)

Translations

put something on a pinnacle

• Arabic: يضع شيء على قمة عالية
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: asettaa huipulle

Further reading

• “pinnacle”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “pinnacle”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• pannicle