Category:Pinnacle

Pin"na*cle, n. Etym: [oe. pinacle, f. pinacle, l. pinnaculum, fr. Pinna pinnacle, feather. See pin a peg.]

1. (arch.)

Defn: an architectural member, upright, and 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, and the like. Pinnacles may be considered primarily as added weight, where it is Necessary to resist the thrust of an arch, etc. Some renowned metropolis with glistering spires and pinnacles around. Milton.

2. Anything resembling a pinnacle; a lofty peak; a pointed summit. Three silent pinnacles of aged snow. Tennyson. The slippery tops of human state, the gilded pinnacles of fate. Cowley.

Pinnacle Pin"na*cle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pinnacled; p. pr. & vb. n. Pinnacling.]

Defn: to build or furnish with a pinnacle or pinnacles. T. Warton.

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---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Pinnacle - A little wing, (Matthew 4:5; Luke 4:9). On the southern side of the temple court was a range of porches or cloisters forming three arcades. At the south-eastern corner the roof of this cloister was some 300 feet above the Kidron valley. The pinnacle, some parapet or wing-like projection, was above this roof, and hence at a great height, probably 350 feet or more above the valley.