icicle n.

"pendent mass of ice tapering downward to a point, formed by the freezing of drops of water flowing down from the place of attachment," early 14c., isykle, from is "ice" (see ice (n.)) + Middle English ikel, a word that by itself meant "icicle," from Old English gicel "icicle, ice" (found in compounds, such as cylegicel "chill ice"), from Proto-Germanic *jekilaz (source also of Old Norse jaki "piece of ice," diminutive jökull "icicle, ice; glacier;" Old High German ihilla "icicle"), from PIE *yeg- "ice" (source also of Middle Irish aig "ice," Welsh ia). Dialectal ickle "icicle" survived into 20c.

The latter element came to lose its independent meaning, and has suffered under popular etymology; explained in books as a mere dim. termination -icle, as in article, particle, etc., it appears transformed in the obs. or dial. forms ice-sickle, ise-sicklc, ice-shackle, ice-shoggle, OSc. iceshogle, icechokill, etc. [Century Dictionary]

词汇	icicle
词源	icicle n. "pendent mass of ice tapering downward to a point, formed by the freezing of drops of water flowing down from the place of attachment," early 14c., isykle, from is "ice" (see ice (n.)) + Middle English ikel, a word that by itself meant "icicle," from Old English gicel "icicle, ice" (found in compounds, such as cylegicel "chill ice"), from Proto-Germanic jekilaz (source also of Old Norse jaki "piece of ice," diminutive jökull "icicle, ice; glacier;" Old High German ihilla "icicle"), from PIE yeg- "ice" (source also of Middle Irish aig "ice," Welsh ia). Dialectal ickle "icicle" survived into 20c. The latter element came to lose its independent meaning, and has suffered under popular etymology; explained in books as a mere dim. termination -icle, as in article, particle, etc., it appears transformed in the obs. or dial. forms ice-sickle, ise-sicklc, ice-shackle, ice-shoggle, OSc. iceshogle, icechokill, etc. [Century Dictionary] Entries linking to icicle ice n. Old English is "ice, piece of ice" (also the name of the Anglo-Saxon rune for -i-), from Proto-Germanic is- "ice" (source also of Old Norse iss, Old Frisian is, Dutch ijs, German Eis), of uncertain origin; possible relatives are Avestan aexa- "frost, ice," isu- "frosty, icy;" Afghan asai "frost." Slang meaning "diamonds" is attested from 1906. Modern spelling begins to appear 15c. and makes the word look French. On ice* "kept out of the way until wanted" is from 1890. Thin ice in the figurative sense is from 1884. To break the ice "to make the first opening to any attempt" is from 1580s, metaphoric of making passages for boats by breaking up river ice though in modern use it usually has implications of "cold reserve." Ice-fishing is from 1869; ice-scraper is from 1789 in cookery. updated on October 25, 2020
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icicle n.

Entries linking to icicle