pinion

¹

[ pin-yuhn ]

noun

1. Machinery.
   1. a gear with a small number of teeth, especially one engaging with a rack or larger gear.
   2. a shaft or spindle cut with teeth engaging with a gear.
2. Metalworking. a gear driving a roll in a rolling mill.

pinion

²

[ pin-yuhn ]

noun

1. the distal or terminal segment of the wing of a bird consisting of the carpus, metacarpus, and phalanges.
2. a feather.
3. the flight feathers collectively.
4. Chiefly Literary. the wing of a bird.

verb (used with object)

1. to cut off the pinion of (a wing) or bind (the wings), as in order to prevent a bird from flying.
2. to disable or restrain (a bird) in such a manner.
3. to bind (a person's arms or hands) so they cannot be used.
4. to disable (someone) in such a manner; shackle.
5. to bind or hold fast, as to a thing:

   to be pinioned to one's bad habits.

pinion

¹

/ ˈpɪnjən /

noun

1. poetic.
   a bird's wing
2. the part of a bird's wing including the flight feathers

verb

1. to hold or bind (the arms) of (a person) so as to restrain or immobilize him
2. to confine or shackle
3. to make (a bird) incapable of flight by removing that part of (the wing) from which the flight feathers grow

pinion

²

/ ˈpɪnjən /

noun

1. a cogwheel that engages with a larger wheel or rack, which it drives or by which it is driven

Other Words From

• pinion·less adjective
• pinion·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pinion¹

First recorded in 1650–60; from French pignon “cogwheel,” Middle French peignon, derivative of peigne “comb,” variant of pigne, from Latin pectin- (stem of pecten ) “comb”; pecten

Origin of pinion²

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English pinion, pinoun, from Middle French, Old French penon, pignon “wing, pinion,” from Vulgar Latin pinniōn- (unattested), stem of pinniō, derivative of Latin pinna “feather, wing, fin”

Word History and Origins

Origin of pinion¹

C15: from Old French pignon wing, from Latin pinna wing

Origin of pinion²

C17: from French pignon cogwheel, from Old French peigne comb, from Latin pecten comb; see pecten

Example Sentences

Rincon Mountain Wilderness skirts the boundary of Saguaro National Park with chimneys of towering rocks and hills spotted with pinions, all perfectly positioned to protect the park’s colossal cacti.

From Outside Online

It is with our body as it is with a watch which indicates the hours, and which goes not if the spring or a pinion be broken.

From Project Gutenberg

The foam and the fangs and the flowers,The raving and ravenous rage Of a poet as pinion'd in powersAs a condor confined in a cage!

From Project Gutenberg

The man kicked him ferociously in the breast before the attacker managed to pinion the legs in his arms.

From Project Gutenberg

Clock-pinion; which may be used for either nicking, piecing, or squaring-off purposes.

From Project Gutenberg

Then draw a vertical line (A) midway between the marks of the line 2, and this will be the center of the main pinion.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• arm
• branch
• extremity
• leg
• stem
• wheel
• wing