Coigne

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A wedge or corner piece, often utilized in banking and architecture, can also signify a unique angle in building design and represents the formation of new terms in linguistics
2. A piece shaped like a wedge used to support or join structures ; the external or internal angle formed by the meeting of walls or beams in building design
3. An object with tapered sides employed for securing or leveling materials ; the junction point of two surfaces forming an angle in architecture

Etymology: Coigne is a variant of "coign", an older English word that once meant a corner or an external angle of a building. The spelling with the "-ne" ending is the form that survives in the specialist sense of a wedge-shaped block, the kind used to hold a barrel, a printing form, or a heavy object steady. Builders and printers still use it for objects whose tapered sides lock material in place or set it level. The word has an architectural side as well. In building, a coign is the point where two surfaces meet at an angle, most famously the corner stones at the edge of a wall. Because those corner stones were often set in a distinctive pattern, the terms for the cornerstone and for the wedge have stayed close in meaning, both describing a piece that fixes two surfaces at their junction.

Synonyms: corner, edge