pin
[ˈpʰɪn]
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.28 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A needle without an eye (usually) made of drawn-out steel wire with one end sharpened and the other flattened or rounded into a head, used for fastening.
noun
A cylindrical piece of solid material, often of wood or metal, used to fasten or as a bearing between two parts.
noun
The victory condition of holding the opponent's shoulders on the wrestling mat for a prescribed period of time.
noun
A slender object specially designed for use in a specific game or sport, such as skittles or bowling.
noun
Any of the individual connecting elements of a multipole electrical connector.
Example Sentences
- "With pins of adamant / And chains they made all fast."
- "Pull the pin out of the grenade before throwing it at the enemy."
- "I'm not so good on my pins these days."
- "The UK standard connector for domestic mains electricity has three pins."
- "The shot landed right on the pin."
- "For kings are clouts that euery man ſhoots at, Our Crowne the pin that thouſands ſeeke to cleaue."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *pinnaz Proto-West Germanic *pinn Old English pinn Middle English pinne English pin From Middle English pinne, from Old English pinn (“pin, peg, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *pinnaz, *pinnō, *pint- (“protruding point, peak, peg, pin, nail”), from Proto-Indo-European *bend- (“protruding object, pointed peg, nail, edge”). Related to pen (“enclosure”). Cognate with Dutch pin (“peg, pin”), Low German pin, pinne (“pin, point, nail, peg”), German Pinn, Pinne (“pin, tack, peg”), Bavarian Pfonzer, Pfunzer (“sharpened point”), Danish pind (“pin, pointed stick”), Norwegian pinn (“stick”), Swedish pinne (“peg, rod, stick”), Icelandic pinni (“pin”). More at pintle. No relation to classical Latin pinna (“fin, flipper, wing-like appendage, wing, feather”), which was extended to mean "ridge, peak, point" (compare pinnacle), and often confused with Latin penna (“wing, feather”). More at feather and pen (Etymology 3).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pɪn/
- British English: /pɪn/