▪ I. pinion, n.1
(ˈpɪnjən)
Forms: 5 pynyon, 6 pynnyon, -nion, pinnyan, 6–7 pynion, pin(n)eon, (-oun), -nion, 7 pyneon, 6– pinion.
[a. OF. pignon, in Froissart c 1400 in pl. ‘wing-feathers, wings, pinions’, a collateral form of OF. penon, pennon (also ‘feather of an arrow’, and ‘streamer, pennon’) = It. pennone, orig. plume (cf. pennoncello little plume or feather), also streamer, pennon; a Romanic augmentative of L. penna (also written pinna) feather, wing-feather, wing (pen n.2). (See Godef. pennon2, the same word as his penon.) Pinion thus preserves the lit. sense of Romanic pennōne, while pennon has the transferred sense of ‘streamer’.]
1. The distal or terminal segment of a bird's wing; hence (chiefly poet. or rhet.), a wing, esp. of a bird (always with reference to its use for flight).
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 400/2 Pynyon, of a wynge, pennula. 1530 Palsgr. 254/2 Pynnyon of a wyng, bout de lesle. 1538 Elyot, Armus,..the pynion of a fowle. 1593 Drayton Eclogues v. 58 With nimble Pineons shall direct her flight. 1594 ― Idea 780 To prove the Pynions, it ascends the Skyes. a 1633 Austin Medit. (1635) 255 How oft do they [Angels] with golden Pinions cleave The flitting skies like flying Pursevant? 1755 Gray Progr. Poesy iii. iii, Nor the pride, nor ample pinion, That the Theban Eagle bear Sailing with supreme dominion Thro' the azure deep of air. 1821 Montgomery Hymn, ‘Hail to the Lord's Anointed’, Far as the eagle's pinion Or dove's light wing can soar. 1855 Longfellow Hiaw. xix, First a speck, and then a vulture, Till the air is dark with pinions. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi xxi. 426 One [weaver-bird] glides with quivering pinions to the centre of the open space. |
b. In carving, The part of a wing corresponding to the fore-arm. Formerly applied to the wing as a whole.
| 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Impr. (1746) 203 The Pinions of Geese, Hens, Capons and Chickens, are of good Nourishment. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 180, I will help thee to a pinion, or breast, or anything. 1875 Beeton's Everyday Cookery 507 Run a skewer through the pinion and thigh into the body to the pinion and thigh on the other side. Mod. ‘Shall I give you a wing?’ ‘Yes: but take off the pinion.’ |
† c. The shoulder-blade of a quadruped. Obs.
| 1545 Elyot, Ala is also the pinion of the shulder of a beast. |
d. The human arm. (humorous.)
| 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs, Club Snobs i, The Standard under his left arm, the Globe under the other pinion. |
2. fig. (In reference to things poetically represented as having wings.)
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. v, The gloomie wing of night begins to stretch His lasie pinion over all the ayre. 1638 Drummond of Hawthornden Irene Wks. (1711) 166 To league is imperiously to command their king and sovereign to cut short his pinions, and strive to be more than his equal. 1732 Pope Ess. Man i. 91 Hope humbly then; with trembling pinions soar. 1791 E. Darwin Bot. Gard. i. 110 When light clouds on airy pinions sail. 1850 Neale Hymn, ‘The strain upraise of joy and praise’, Ye winds on pinions light! |
3. The outermost feather, or any flight-feather, of a bird's wing; a pinion-feather.
| 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 131 The seconde fether in some place is better than the pinion in other some. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xii. 4 An argument that he is pluckt, when hither He sends so poore a Pinnion of his Wing. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Pinion,..the quills from the joint farthest from the body of the wing of the goose or swan, used for making pens. |
† b. The shaft of a feather; a quill. Obs. rare—1.
| 1697 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 4 Our Beds..being stuck with Feathers whose Pinions ran into our sides. |
† 4. Applied to some kind of embellishment worn on the shoulders or sleeves of women's dresses in the 16th and 17th c. Cf. pinioning n.
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 73 The Women..haue dublets and Ierkins,..made with wings, welts, and pinions on the shoulder points. 1650 R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Warres iv. 78 The pinnions of their sleeves, which they call wings, are laid with silk fringe of divers colours. |
5. The anterior border of an insect's wing; esp. in Comb. in collectors' names of moths, e.g. pinion-spotted pug (Eupithecia consignata), pinion-spotted yellow (Venilia quadrimaculata).
| 1720 E. Albin Nat. Hist. Eng. Insects Pl. XCV. text, A yellowish moth with brown clouds towards the pinions of the upper wings. 1775 Moses Harris Engl. Lepidoptera 39 No. 275 Pinion, white spotted,..on elm trees in hanging wood. No. 276 Pinion, double spotted,..brown, having two white spots on the sector edge. 1832 Rennie Butterflies & Moths 135, 145. 1869 E. Newman Brit. Moths. 118/2 The Pinion-spotted Pug. |
† 6. Her. Applied to the saltire and the chevron.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. B v b, Ther be in armys calde ij. pynyonys, Oon is Whan the feeld his a sawtri... The secunde pynyon is called cheffrounce. |
† 7. See quot. Obs. (? error, from pinion v.)
| 1736 Ainsworth Lat. Dict., Pinions, or manicles for the hands, manicæ. Pinions, or fetters for the feet, compedes. [Whence 1755 in Johnson.] |
8. attrib. and Comb., as pinion-feather; pinion-bones, the bones of the manus or distal joint of a wing; pinion-claw, a horny claw borne by the index or pollex of certain birds.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans B j, The federis that sum call the pynyon feder. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 300 The pinion feathers blacke, the vpper plume reddish. 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 300 The Sarcel is the extreme pinion feather in a Hawk's wing. 1880 Browning Dram. Idylls, Pietro 156 The eaglet callow Needs a parent's pinion-push to quit the eyrie's edge. 1884 G. Allen in Longm. Mag. Jan. 295 The Australian bush-turkeys have also the rudiment or last relic of a primitive pinion-claw. |
▪ II. pinion, n.2 Obs. exc. dial.
(ˈpɪnjən)
Also 3 pynun, 4 pynoun.
[a. OF. penon, pinun (Godef.), mod.F. pignon in same sense, Romanic augmentative of L. pinna battlement, pinnacle.]
A battlement, pinnacle, or gable; = pignon2. pinion-end, dial. pinning-end, a gable-end.
| [1278 Bursar's Rolls, Merton in Archæol. Jrnl. II. 142 Item ijs. vd. liberat. predicto Nicholao pro xiij pedibus de pynun table.] a 1300 Cursor M. 12958 (Cott.) Þe warlau..sett him on þe hei pinion [Gött. pingnion, Fairf. pynoun] O þe temple o þe tun. 1882 T. Hardy Two on Tower II. ii. 23 The wind have blown down the chimley..and the pinning-end with it. 1888 E. Laws Little Eng. beyond Wales 421 Pinion or Pine-end, the gable end of a house; French pignon, a gable. |
▪ III. pinion, n.3 Mech.
(ˈpɪnjən)
[ad. mod.F. pignon in same sense (Paré 16th c.), Sp. piñon tooth of a wheel, pinion, a spec. application of OF. pignon battlement (see prec.), the teeth of a wheel being compared to the crenellations of battlements.]
A small cog-wheel the teeth of which engage with those of a larger one; also a spindle, arbor, or axle, having cogs or teeth which engage with the teeth of a wheel. (The teeth or cogs of a pinion are distinctively called leaves.) pinion and rack, also rack and pinion: see rack n.2 6.
| 1659 J. Leak Waterwks. 9 If the Wheel A be turned by the Pinion C of 10. Teeth. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Pinion of Report, is that Pinion in a Watch which is commonly fixed on the Arbor of the Great Wheel..; it driveth the Dial Wheel, and carrieth about the Hand. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 358 If the teeth of wheels and the leaves of pinions consisted of materials perfectly hard, and were accurately formed..they would act on each other not only with uniform force, but also without friction. 1867 J. Hogg Microsc. i. i. 9 Capable of various adjustments, and regulated by a pinion and rack. |
b. attrib. and Comb., as pinion-flank, pinion-shaft, pinion-work; pinion-bottoming-file, pinion-file, fine knife-edged files used in watch-making; pinion-gauge, fine callipers used by watch-makers; pinion-jack (see quot.); pinion-leaf, each of the cogs or teeth of a pinion (leaf n.1 13); pinion-wire: see quot. 1884.
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 242 A file cutting only on the edge is more generally called a safe sided lever notch file, or a *pinion bottoming file. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Pinion-file (Watch-making), a knife-file employed by watchmakers. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 288 The *pinion flanks should be hypocycloidal in form. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Pinion-gage. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 193 [A] Pinion Guage..[is] a guage used by watchmakers for taking the height of pinion shoulders and other measurements. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Pinion Jack (Milling), a jack for raising the stone pinion out of gear. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 37 The tendency of *pinion leaves to butt the wheel teeth. |
| 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 137 These plummer-blocks are bolted down to the top-rails of the frame, to which also the separate bearings of the *pinion-shafts are..bolted. |
| 1795 J. Aikin Manchester 311 The drawing of *pinion wire originated here. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 194 Pinion wire..steel wire drawn with corrugations resembling pinion leaves, from which pinions are made. |
| 1829 Nat. Philos. I. Mechanics ii. vii. 28 (U. Kn. Soc.), A system of tooth and *pinion-work. |
▪ IV. † ˈpinion, n.4 Obs.
[Perh. a use of pinion n.1]
Name of an obsolete card-game.
| c 1554 Interlude of Youth (1849) 38 At the cardes I can teche you to play, At the..Post, pinion, and also aumsase. |
▪ V. pinion, n.5
1. Anglicized form of Sp. piñon, Pg. pinhão, pl. pinhões (sometimes written pinhoens), in full pinhões do Brasil, kernels of Brazil, the seed of Jatropha Curcas, the physic-nut of South America. See also pignon1 2.
| 1577 Frampton Joyful News i. (1596) 22 They doe bryng from the newe Spayne certeyne Pinions or Carnels, wherwith the Indians dyd purge themselues: they bee like to our Pinions, which do growe out of our Trees. [1648 W. Piso Hist. Nat. Brasil. iv. xl. 83 De Munduy-guacu, Lusitanis Pinhoes do Brasil, ejusque usu in Medicina. 1648 Marcgrave Hist. Rerum Nat. Brasil. iii. iii. 96 Mvndvbigvacv Brasiliensibus, Pinhones Lusitanis, mihi Nux cathartica. 1822 Sara H. Coleridge tr. Acc. Abipones II. 261 In the Northern part of Paraguay there grows a nut called Piñon del Paraguay by the Spaniards, and by physicians nux Cathartica. 1884 W. Dymock Mat. Med. W. India iv. 573 Jatropha multifida... The seeds are powerfully purgative and emetic. In Brazil an oil called ‘Pinhoen’ is extracted from them and is used as an emetic.] |
2. Anglicized spelling of piñon, the American Nut-pine. Also attrib. in pinion nut, pinion pine.
| 1831 J. O. Pattie Pers. Narr. 43 A nut..which grows on a tree resembling the pine, called by the Spanish, pinion. 1846 R. B. Sage Scenes Rocky Mts. xxi. 172 The hills enclosing the valley..are high and precipitous,—affording numerous groves of pine, pinion and cedar. Ibid., Wild turkeys..will thrive in an extraordinary manner upon pinion-nuts. 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 3), Pinion (Span. piñon), a species of pine-tree, growing on the head waters of the Arkansas. 1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xi. 173 On many of the hills grows the pinion pine. 1960 ‘I. Devi’ Yoga for You 189 Sunflower seeds or pinion nuts to taste. 1970 People (Austral.) 26 Aug. 44/4 Pinion nuts from the cones of introduced pines are a tasty novelty. 1979 Yale Apr. 39/2 (Advt.), 40 beautiful acres high ground with pinion, mountain views near mining town between Santa Fe & Albuquerque. |
▪ VI. ˈpinion, n.6 Woollen Manuf.
[erron. ad. F. peignon combings, f. peigner to comb.]
(pl.) The short refuse wool remaining after the combing process; ‘noils’.
| 1780 A. Young Tour Irel. II. 18 To each stone there is one pound and three quarters of pinions of short wool that comes out in the combing. 1847–78 Halliwell, Pinions, refuse wool. Somerset. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Pinions... This word..is thoroughly West Country. In other parts this regular article of commerce is called ‘noils’. |
▪ VII. pinion, v.
(ˈpɪnjən)
[f. pinion n.1]
1. trans. To cut off the pinion of one wing, or otherwise disable or bind the wings, in order to prevent a bird from flying. (With the bird, or the wing, as obj.)
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 169 They that meane to fatte Pigions..some..do softly tie their Legges:..some vse onely to pinion them. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 123 The swanners gette up the young swannes about Midsummer..and then doe they allsoe pinnion them, cuttinge a joynte of theire right winges. a 1667 Cowley Ess. Verse & Prose, Shortness of Life, Suppose, thou Fortune couldst to Tameness bring, And clip or pinion her wing. 1727 Philip Quarll (1816) 67 The two old ducks..being pinioned, could not fly away. 1849 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855) 242 They..should have been pinioned at the first joint of the wing. |
2. To bind the arms of any one, so as to deprive him of their use; to disable by so binding; to shackle. (With the person, or the arms, as obj.)
| 1558 T. Phaer æneid ii. C iv, The shepeherdes..a yongman haue ycaught, And pynyond with his handes behind onto the kyng him brought. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xxi. 31 All their hands he pinnioned behinde With their owne girdles. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 84 He carries his elbows backward, as if he were pinioned like a trust-up Fowl. 1726 Swift Gulliver iii. i, Finding us all prostrate upon our faces..they pinioned us with strong ropes. 1851 Wilson's Tales Borders XX. 54 The sailors attempted to pinion Peter's arms. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 70 Feare inuades them, and pynions them vp. 1641 Milton Animadv. iii. Wks. 1851 III. 210 Laying before us universall propositions, and then thinks..to pinion them with a limitation. 1781 Cowper Truth 133 Yon ancient prude..Her elbows pinioned close upon her hips. |
c. To bind fast to something, or together.
| a 1652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. v. 135 Those dismal apprehensions which pinion the souls of men to mortality. a 1690 Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1721) V. 131 The Prisoners..being pinion'd two and two together by the Arms. 1742 Pope Dunc. iv. 134 And while on Fame's triumphal Car they ride, Some Slave of mine be pinion'd to their side. 1764 Churchill Gotham ii. 164 Let me..praise their heav'n, tho' pinion'd down to earth. 1831 T. L. Peacock Crotchet Castle xviii, Mr. Toogood..contrived to slip a ponderous coat of mail over his shoulders, which pinioned his arms to his sides. |
Hence ˈpinioning vbl. n.
| 1828 in P. L. Sclater Rec. Progr. Zool. Soc. (1901) 150, 11 wild ducks..caught for the purpose of pinioning. |
| attrib. 1864 Sala in Daily Tel. 21 Sept., Calcraft with his pinioning straps. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 12 Dec. 7/2 The convict..quietly submitted to the pinioning operations. |