Revised as of
24 Sept 2022
It’s love and peace or threats and death, depending on which homonym you choose: a pistil or a pistol.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Pistil | Pistol |
|---|---|
Anemone japonica by JLPC is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — A close-up of the Japanese anemone’s yellow-tipped pistils. |
French Navy Pistol 1837 by Rama is under the French CC BY-SA 2.0 fr license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun
Plural: pistils |
Noun; Verb, transitive
Plural for the noun: pistols Third person present verb: pistols |
| [Botany] The female organs of a flower, comprising the stigma, style, and ovary
[Botany] Such organs collectively, where there are more than one in a flower [Botany] A gynoecium, i.e., the female part of a flower, consisting of one or more carpels |
Noun: A small firearm designed to be held in one hand [US; informal] A very energetic or enterprising person Verb, transitive: |
| Examples: | |
| Silks and glumes were removed from the pistils for separate analyses.
The pistil and the stamen of the flowers are the specialized organs responsible for the reproductive processes. In addition, there was a negative correlation between the number of stamens and the number of pistils within female flowers. Most of the flowers have a pistil longer than the anthers. Five pistils were dissected from flowers, and the stigmas and styles were mounted on aluminum stubs using carbon paste. |
Noun: The ATF defines a pistol as any handgun that does not contain its ammunition in a revolving cylinder. The first revolvers were referred to as revolving pistols. He held a pistol to her head, to force her lover to capitulate. The glint of the silenced pistol was seen as Timothy drew out the weapon. Miss Dando’s killer used a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. The businessman agreed as he pulled out a laser pistol from his back holster. My daughter Maria is 8 years old, and she’s a pistol. When we first met, he was a pistol, full of ideals and a natural leader. Verb, transitive: He slid on his knees, double pistoling while riddling the bad guys with bullets! If he were to talk of pistoling ’em all, I should be obliged to agree. Some of them ran to the gun room and secured the arms and ammunition, pistoling or cutting down all such as stood in their way or offered opposition. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: pistillate | Adjective: pistol-like Noun: pistoleer, pistolero Verb, transitive: pistol-whip |
| History of the Word: | |
| Early 18th century from the French pistile or the Latin pistillum meaning pestle. | Mid-16th century is from the obsolete French pistole, which is from the German Pistole, which is from the Czech pišt’ala, of which the original meaning was whistle, hence a firearm by the resemblance in shape. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Pistil versus Pistol
Apple Dictionary.com
Definition.org: pistoling
Dictionary.com: pistil
Oxford Dictionaries: pistil
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Lilies and Their Pistils, <https://pxhere.com/en/photo/493813>, is under the CC0 license, via pxhere. Sig P220 Pistol by Rama is under the French CC BY-SA 2.0 fr license, via Wikimedia Commons.
