aiguille

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See also: aiguillé

English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French aiguille (needle).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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aiguille (plural aiguilles)

  1. A needle-shaped peak. [from 19th c.]
    • 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. [], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: [] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC:
      Mont Blanc, the supreme and magnificent Mont Blanc, raised itself from the surrounding aiguilles, and its tremendous dome overlooked the valley.
  2. An instrument for boring holes, used in blasting.
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References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 aiguille”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 aiguille”, in Collins English Dictionary.
  3. 3.0 3.1 aiguille”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  4. 4.0 4.1 aiguille”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French aguille, from Late Latin acūcula, diminutive of Latin acus (needle). Perhaps influenced phonetically by aiguiser. Compare Occitan agulha.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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aiguille f (plural aiguilles)

  1. (botany, costumery, medicine) needle
    aiguille à tricoterknitting needle
    de fil en aiguilleone thing leading to another
    chercher une aiguille dans une botte de fointo look for a needle in a haystack
    talon aiguillestiletto heel
  2. needle (of a compass)
  3. hand (of a watch)
    aiguille des secondessecond hand
    aiguille des minutesminute hand
    aiguille des heureshour hand
    dans le sens des aiguilles d’une montreclockwise
  4. spire (of a church)
  5. (railway) point, switch
    Coordinate term: aiguillage

Derived terms

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See also

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Verb

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aiguille

  1. inflection of aiguiller:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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