pin

• enPR: pĭn, IPA^(key): /pɪn/, [pʰɪn]

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪn
• Homophone: pen (pin–pen merger)

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).

pin (plural pins)

1. 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.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     With pins of adamant / And chains they made all fast.

2. A small nail with a head and a sharp point.
3. A cylinder often of wood or metal used to fasten or as a bearing between two parts.

   Pull the pin out of the grenade before throwing it at the enemy.

5. (wrestling, professional wrestling) The victory condition of holding the opponent's shoulders on the wrestling mat for a prescribed period of time.
6. A slender object specially designed for use in a specific game or sport, such as skittles or bowling.
8. (informal, in the plural) A leg.

   I'm not so good on my pins these days.

9. (electricity) Any of the individual connecting elements of a multipole electrical connector.

   The UK standard connector for domestic mains electricity has three pins.

10. A piece of jewellery that is attached to clothing with a pin.
12. (US) A simple accessory that can be attached to clothing with a pin or fastener, often round and bearing a design, logo or message, and used for decoration, identification or to show political affiliation, etc.

    Synonyms: lapel pin, badge

13. (chess) Either a scenario in which moving a lesser piece to escape from attack would expose a more valuable piece to being taken instead, or one where moving a piece is impossible as it would place the king in check.
14. (golf) The flagstick: the flag-bearing pole which marks the location of a hole
15. (curling) The spot at the exact centre of the house (the target area)

    The shot landed right on the pin.

16. (archery) The spot at the exact centre of the target, originally a literal pin that fastened the target in place.
    • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iv:

      For kings are clouts that euery man ſhoots at,
      Our Crowne the pin that thouſands ſeeke to cleaue.

    • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:

      the very pin of his heart cleft

17. (obsolete) A mood, a state of being.
    • c. 1631–1633 (first performance), [John Clavell], edited by John Henry Pyle Pafford and W[alter] W[ilson] Greg, The Soddered Citizen (The Malone Society Reprints; 82), London: […] [F]or the Malone Society by John Johnson at the Oxford University Press, published 1936, →OCLC, Act II, scene v, folio 14^a, page 45, lines 1030–1032:

      Hee sett Promethius, on a merrye pynn, / Whoe dranke soe devillishly, that there he gott / A terrible heartburninge, […]

    • 1653, Henry More, An Antidote against Atheisme, or An Appeal to the Natural Faculties of the Minde of Man, whether There Be Not a God, London: […] Roger Daniel, […], →OCLC:

      he had made the sign of the Cross on his head; for he was then on a merry pin and full of jearing

18. One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each person should drink.
19. (medicine, obsolete) Caligo.
    • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

      Blind with the pin and web

20. A thing of small value; a trifle.
    • 1712 February 18 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, February 7, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 295; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

      He […] did not care a pin for her.

      The spelling has been modernized.

21. A peg in musical instruments for increasing or relaxing the tension of the strings.
22. (engineering) A short shaft, sometimes forming a bolt, a part of which serves as a journal.
23. The tenon of a dovetail joint.
24. (UK, brewing) A size of brewery cask, equal to half a firkin, or eighth of a barrel.
    • 1978, Hugh Verity, chapter 2, in We landed by moonlight, Manchester: Crécy Publishing, →ISBN, page 22=:

      Our ground crew were lodged in the main station, but they came to the cottage for a party when operations for the night had been cancelled and we had a new ‘gong’ (decoration) to celebrate. On these occasions we always installed a pin of bitter.

25. (informal) A pinball machine.

    I spent most of my time in the arcade playing pins.

    • 1949, Billboard, volume 61, page 82:

      Attracted by game operation, many invested heavily in pins and rolldowns prior to last spring.

26. (locksmithing) A small cylindrical object which blocks the rotation of a pin-tumbler lock when the incorrect key is inserted.
27. (bodybuilding, slang) An injection of PEDs.

• (small nail): nail, tack
• (cylinder of wood or metal): peg
• (games): skittle
• (jewellery fastened with a pin): brooch

• (jewellery fastened with a pin): breastpin
• (chess): absolute pin, relative pin, partial pin

• → Norwegian Nynorsk: pins
• → Polish: pin
• → Spanish: pin
• → Swahili: pini
• → Swedish: pin, pins

• needle

pin (third-person singular simple present pins, present participle pinning, simple past and past participle pinned)

1. (often followed by a preposition such as "to" or "on") To fasten or attach (something) with a pin.
2. (chess, usually passive voice) To cause (a piece) to be in a pin.
4. (wrestling) To pin down (someone).

   He pinned his opponent on the mat.

5. To enclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.
6. (graphical user interface, transitive) To attach (an icon, application, message etc.) to another item so that it persists.

   Antonym: unpin

   to pin a folder to the taskbar

7. (programming, transitive) To fix (an array in memory, a security certificate, etc.) so that it cannot be modified.

   Antonym: unpin

   When marshaling data, the interop marshaler can copy or pin the data being marshaled.

   • 2012, Ian Griffiths, Programming C# 5.0, page 244:

     […] you can use the GCHandle class mentioned earlier to pin a heap block until you explicitly unpin it.

8. (transitive) To cause an analog gauge to reach the stop pin at the high end of the range.

   Synonym: peg

   • 1979, Al Greenwood, Lou Gramm, “Rev on the Red Line”, in Head Games:

     Now I need to pin those needles.

9. (bodybuilding, slang, transitive, intransitive) To inject for performance enhancement.
10. (backgammon) To move a piece onto a blot, preventing the piece from further movement.

pin (third-person singular simple present pins, present participle pinning, simple past and past participle pinned)

1. Alternative form of peen

• NIP, NPI, nip, INP, Nip

Borrowed from English pin.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈpin]

pin m (plural pins)

1. (electronics) lead
2. pin (ornament)

pin

1. holy

• fen

pin

1. first-person singular present indicative of zèinan: am

pin f (singulative pinen)

1. pines

• sab

pin

1. imperative of pine

From Middle Dutch pinne, from Old Dutch *pinna, from Proto-West Germanic *pinnā, of obscure origin. Cognate with English 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”).

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪn
• IPA^(key): /pɪn/

pin f (plural pinnen, diminutive pinnetje n)

1. peg, pin

• → Aukan: pina
• ⇒ Dutch: pintje (diminutive form)
  • → Munsee: piinch

Abbreviation of persoonlijk identificatienummer (“personal identification number”).

pin m or n (plural pins, diminutive pinnetje n)

1. PIN (A number used to confirm an individual's identity, e.g. when using an ATM or a mobile phone, or when making payment using a credit card or debit card)

• pincode
• pinkassa
• pinnen

pin

1. inflection of pinnen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

• nip

Inherited from Old French pin, from Latin pīnus, ultimately from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *poi- (“sap, juice”).

• IPA^(key): /pɛ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: pain, pains, peins, peint, peints, pins

pin m (plural pins)

1. pine, pine tree (Pinus)

   Hypernym: pinacée

• “pin” in the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 9th Edition (1992-).
• “pin” in Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française, 1872–1877.
• “pin”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Latin pīnus.

pin m (plural pins)

1. pine tree

From Dutch pin, from Proto-Germanic *pinnaz *pinnaz, *pinnō, *pint- (“protruding point, peak, peg, pin, nail”), from Proto-Indo-European *bend- 'protruding object, pointed peg, nail, edge'.

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɪn]
• Hyphenation: pin

pin

1. pin
   1. (colloquial) 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.

      Synonym: peniti

   2. a slender object specially designed for use in a specific game or sport, such as skittles or bowling.
2. (colloquial) peg.

   Synonym: pasak

• “pin” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

pin

1. Rōmaji transcription of ピン

pin

1. a particle used to indicate affirmation

   Wapin.

   I agree.

   Istu yapin.

   it's indeed correct.

   Ikapin.

   Yeah, it's you.

pin

1. inflection of pīt:
   1. second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. third-person plural present indicative
   3. second-person singular imperative
2. (with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of pīt
3. (with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of pīt

pin

1. Nonstandard spelling of pīn.
2. Nonstandard spelling of pín.
3. Nonstandard spelling of pǐn.
4. Nonstandard spelling of pìn.

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

pin (Raguileo spelling)

1. To say
2. To tell (a story).
3. first-person singular realis form of pin

• (tell a story): nvxamyen

pin anim (plural piniig, diminutive piniins, locative piniing, pejorative pinish)

1. potato

Borrowed from Latin pīnus

• IPA^(key): /piːn/

pin ?

1. (appears only in compounds) pine

• pīnbēam
• pīntrēow

pin inan

1. chili. chili pepper.

• Crescencio García Ramos, Diccionario Básico Totonaco-Español Español-Totonaco (Xalapa, Academia Veracruzana de las Lenguas Indígenas, 2007)

• IPA^(key): /piŋ/

pin m

1. pine

• pinera f

Borrowed from English pin, from Middle English pinne, from Old English pinn, from Proto-Germanic *pinnaz, *pinnō, *pint-, from Proto-Indo-European *bend-.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpin/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -in
• Syllabification: pin
• Homophone: PIN

pin m inan

1. (electricity) lead, pin (any of the individual connecting elements of a multipole electrical connector)

• pin in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Compare Chinese 兵 (bīng).

• IPA^(key): /pʰin˧/

pin

1. army.
2. soldier.

• (army): dap, pindap, sìl
• (soldier): pinla, sìlsè

Inherited from Latin pīnus, ultimately from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *poi- (“sap, juice”).

pin m (plural pini)

1. pine

• brad

• pign (Rumantsch Grischun)
• pégn (Sursilvan)
• pegn (Sutsilvan, Surmiran)

From Latin pīnus.

pin m

1. (Puter, Vallader) spruce, fir

• (spruce): (Vallader) petsch

pin

1. woman

• transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66

• IPA^(key): /ˈpin/ [ˈpĩn]
• Rhymes: -in
• Syllabification: pin

Borrowed from English pin.

pin m (plural pines)

1. pin, lapel pin, badge

   Synonym: insignia

2. (electricity) pin (any of the individual connecting elements of a multipole electrical connector)

Borrowed from English PIN, acronym of personal identification number.

• PIN

pin m (plural pines)

1. PIN, PIN number

   Synonym: número pin

• “pin”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Clipping of pinsam, with the same meaning.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːn/

pin (comparative mer pin, superlative mest pin)

1. (colloquial) embarrassing

   Så jäkla pin asså!

   So f--ing embarrassing!

Invariable, not used in the definite form.

From pina.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːn/

pin

1. (mostly in (reference to) the phrase below) pain, torment

• vill man vara fin får man lida pin

pin (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) very, really, super-

   Synonyms: jätte-, väldigt

• på pin kiv
• pinfull
• pinfärsk
• pinkär

Borrowed from English pin.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪn/

pin n

1. Alternative form of pins

The form with -s is recommended since it's easier to decline in Swedish.

• pin in Nationalencyklopedin (needs an authorization fee).

From Ottoman Turkish پین (pin), borrowed from a dialectal form of Armenian բույն (buyn, “nest”).

pin (definite accusative pini, plural pinler)

1. (dialectal) coop for poultry

Inflection
Nominative	pin
Definite accusative	pini
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pin	pinler
Definite accusative	pini	pinleri
Dative	pine	pinlere
Locative	pinde	pinlerde
Ablative	pinden	pinlerden
Genitive	pinin	pinlerin
Possessive forms Nominative Singular Plural 1st singular pinim pinlerim 2nd singular pinin pinlerin 3rd singular pini pinleri 1st plural pinimiz pinlerimiz 2nd plural pininiz pinleriniz 3rd plural pinleri pinleri Definite accusative Singular Plural 1st singular pinimi pinlerimi 2nd singular pinini pinlerini 3rd singular pinini pinlerini 1st plural pinimizi pinlerimizi 2nd plural pininizi pinlerinizi 3rd plural pinlerini pinlerini Dative Singular Plural 1st singular pinime pinlerime 2nd singular pinine pinlerine 3rd singular pinine pinlerine 1st plural pinimize pinlerimize 2nd plural pininize pinlerinize 3rd plural pinlerine pinlerine Locative Singular Plural 1st singular pinimde pinlerimde 2nd singular pininde pinlerinde 3rd singular pininde pinlerinde 1st plural pinimizde pinlerimizde 2nd plural pininizde pinlerinizde 3rd plural pinlerinde pinlerinde Ablative Singular Plural 1st singular pinimden pinlerimden 2nd singular pininden pinlerinden 3rd singular pininden pinlerinden 1st plural pinimizden pinlerimizden 2nd plural pininizden pinlerinizden 3rd plural pinlerinden pinlerinden Genitive Singular Plural 1st singular pinimin pinlerimin 2nd singular pininin pinlerinin 3rd singular pininin pinlerinin 1st plural pinimizin pinlerimizin 2nd plural pininizin pinlerinizin 3rd plural pinlerinin pinlerinin
Predicative forms Singular Plural 1st singular pinim pinlerim 2nd singular pinsin pinlersin 3rd singular pin pindir pinler pinlerdir 1st plural piniz pinleriz 2nd plural pinsiniz pinlersiniz 3rd plural pinler pinlerdir

• kümes

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1971–1979) “բոյն”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press
• “pin”, in Türkiye'de halk ağzından derleme sözlüğü [Compilation Dictionary of Popular Speech in Turkey] (in Turkish), Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu, 1963–1982

Borrowed from French pile.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [pin˧˧], [ʔɓin˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [pin˧˧], [ʔɓin˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [pɨn˧˧], [ʔɓɨn˧˧]
• Phonetic spelling: pin, bin

(classifier cục) pin

1. a battery
2. the amount of electricity that a battery holds

   Điện thoại tao hết pin rồi.

   My phone is dead.

   (literally, “My phone has run out of "battery".”)

• đèn pin (“torch, flashlight”)

From Latin pīnus (compare Middle Irish pín).

• IPA^(key): /piːn/
• Rhymes: -iːn
• Homophone: p'un (“which one?”) (South Wales)

pin m or m pl (uncountable)

1. pine (tree)
2. pine (wood)

Modern Welsh orthography prefers the form pin to the superseded form pîn.

• pinwydd f pl

• pinafal, afal pin (“pineapple”)

• IPA^(key): /pɪn/

pin m (plural pinnau)

1. Dated spelling of pìn.

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “pin”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

• IPA^(key): /pin̪/

pin

1. bee

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[1], Pacific linguistics

From Proto-Oceanic *papine, from Proto-Austronesian *bahi (“woman”).

• IPA^(key): /pɪn/

pin

1. woman

• IPA^(key): /k͡pĩ̄/

pin

1. to terminate; to come to an end

   Ọ̀nà ti pin ― The road has ended

• òpin (“end”)

Cognate with Igala kpẹ́

• IPA^(key): /k͡pĩ́/

pín

1. to divide

   O fẹ́ tọ́ ọ wò àbí? Màá pín in sí méjì. ― Do you want to taste it? I'll divide it in two.

2. to share out; to distribute

   Àwọn apẹja pín èyí tí wọ́n pa fún gbogbo abúlé ― The fishermen shared their catch with the village

• ìpínkiri (“distribution”)
• ìpín (“portion; share”)