icicle

Definition

A drooping, tapering shape of ice.

Etymology

From Middle English isykle, isikel, from Old English *īsġicel, from Proto-West Germanic *īsajikil, *īsajekul, equivalent to ice + ickle. It was assimilated to nouns in -icle, from Latin -iculus—the expected spelling would have -ickle. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Iesjuukel (“icicle”), German Low German Iesjökel, dialectal Danish jisegel (“icicle”), Norwegian isjukel (“icicle”) and Elfdalian aisikkel.

Example Sentences

• "Mor. Miſlike me not for my complexion, / The ſhadowed liuerie of the burniſht ſunne, / To whom I am a neighbour,and neere bred. / Bring me the faireſt creature North-ward borne, / Where Phœbus fire ſcarce thawes the yſicles, / And let vs make inciſion for your loue, / To proue whoſe blood is reddeſt,his or mine."
• "Several days of sub-zero temperatures caused icicles up to 1.5 metres long to form in tunnels across Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria."