different between quoin vs coigne

English

Etymology

Variant of coin; compare coign.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??n/
• Homophones: coin, coign
• Rhymes: -??n

Noun

quoin (plural quoins)

1. Any of the corner building blocks of a building, usually larger or more ornate than the surrounding blocks.
   • 1901, Thomas Hardy, A Man (In Memory Of H. Of M.)

     In Casterbridge there stood a noble pile, […]
     But evil days beset that domicile;
     The stately beauties of its roof and wall
     Passed into sordid hands. Condemned to fall
     Were cornice, quoin, and cove,
     And all that art had wove in antique style.

2. The keystone of an arch.
3. (printing, historical) A metal wedge which fits into the space between the type and the edge of a chase, and is tightened to fix the metal type in place.
   • 1898, John Southward, Modern Printing: A Handbook of the Principles and Practice of Typography and the Auxiliary Arts

     Next fit the quoins, using the “persuader” to squeeze in the pages, and tap up all around.

4. (obsolete, nautical) A form of wedge used to prevent casks from moving
5. (firearms) A wedge of wood or iron put under the breech of heavy guns or the muzzle of siege-mortars to raise them to the proper level.
6. (horticulture) A number of apple varieties with a distinctive ribbed appearance, like corners of a coin.

Synonyms

• (corner block of a building): cornerstone

Derived terms

• quinie

Verb

quoin (third-person singular simple present quoins, present participle quoining, simple past and past participle quoined)

1. (transitive) To wedge or steady with quoins.

English

Etymology

A variant of coign.

Noun

coigne (plural coignes)

1. Alternative form of coign: a keystone; a wedge; (obsolete) a corner or angle, especially of a building.
   • 1843 Robert Henry Horne Orion: an epic poem

     Great figures started from the roof

     And lofty coignes.

   • 1884, Robert Kennaway Douglas, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., s.v. "Nanking":

     From the eaves of the several stories there hung one hundred and fifty-two bells, and countless lanterns adorned the same coignes of vantage.

Derived terms

• coigne of vantage

Anagrams

• CEOing, Geonic, geonic

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French coin.

Noun

coigne

1. Alternative form of coyn (“coin, quoin”)

Etymology 2

From Old French cooing.

Noun

coigne

1. Alternative form of coyn (“quince”)

Etymology 3

From Old French coignier.

Verb

coigne

1. Alternative form of coynen