pinnacle
- 01 C2 Proficiency
n.a small pointed tower on top of a building.
n.a vertical ornament, usually forming a high tufted point, used to finish a buttress or gable in Gothic architecture.
Simple“The cathedral was decorated with many stone pinnacles that pointed toward the sky.”
In context“The architect added decorative pinnacles to the buttresses, not only for aesthetic appeal but to provide the necessary weight to stabilise the high walls.”
- 02 C2 Proficiency
v.to put something on a very high point.
v.to place on or as if on a pinnacle; to crown or provide with pinnacles.
Simple“The statue was pinnacled high above the city square.”
In context“The design for the new monument featured a bronze eagle pinnacled atop a marble column to symbolise national pride.”
“He is a lawyer who rose to the pinnacle of soccer and is now trying to hold onto his job.”
“But Phillips, who died in 1973, never witnessed the pinnacle of the genre she created.”
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French pinacle, pinnacle, from Late Latin pinnaculum (“a peak, pinnacle”), from Latin pinna (“a pinnacle”); see pin. Doublet of panache.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.