Meanings
plural icicles
- A drooping, tapering shape of ice.
Several days of sub-zero temperatures caused icicles up to 1.5 metres long to form in tunnels across Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria.
2021 February 24, “Network News: NR takes pride in track teams as effects of Storm Darcy repelled...”, in RAIL, number 925, page 131 more example
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.
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 167
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*īsajikil
- Old English*īsġicel
- Middle Englishisykle
- Englishicicle
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans ijspegel
- ijspegela spear-shape of ice
Arabic دَلَاة جَلِيدِيَّة
- دَلَاة جَلِيدِيَّةa spear-shape of ice
Basque izotz-burruntzi, izotz-kandela
- izotz-burruntzia spear-shape of ice
- izotz-kandelaa spear-shape of ice
Bengali বরফখণ্ড
- বরফখণ্ড (baraphakhaṇḍa)a spear-shape of ice
Bulgarian висулка
- висулка (visulka)a spear-shape of ice
Catalan caramell
- caramella spear-shape of ice
Chinese Mandarin 冰柱, 冰錐 /冰锥
- 冰柱 (bīngzhù)a spear-shape of ice
- 冰錐 /冰锥 (bīngzhuī)a spear-shape of ice
- 冰錐子 /冰锥子 (bīngzhuīzi)a spear-shape of ice
- 冰凌 (bīnglíng)a spear-shape of ice
- 冰溜 (bīngliù)a spear-shape of ice
Czech rampouch, střechýl
- rampoucha spear-shape of ice
- střechýla spear-shape of ice
Danish istap
- istapa spear-shape of ice
Dutch pegel, ijspegel
- pegela spear-shape of ice
- ijspegela spear-shape of ice
- ijskegela spear-shape of ice
Esperanto pendglacio, glacipendaĵo
- pendglacioa spear-shape of ice
- glacipendaĵoa spear-shape of ice
Estonian jääpurikas
- jääpurikasa spear-shape of ice
Finnish jääpuikko
- jääpuikkoa spear-shape of ice
French chandelle de glace, glaçon
- chandelle de glacea spear-shape of ice
- glaçona spear-shape of ice
German Eiszapfen
- Eiszapfena spear-shape of ice
Greek παγοκρύσταλλος
- παγοκρύσταλλος (pagokrýstallos)a spear-shape of ice
Hindi हिमलंब
- हिमलंब (himlamb)a spear-shape of ice
Hungarian jégcsap
- jégcsapa spear-shape of ice
Icelandic grýlukerti
- grýlukertia spear-shape of ice
Irish briogadán, birín seaca
- briogadána spear-shape of ice
- birín seacaa spear-shape of ice
- reodóga spear-shape of ice
- bior seacaa spear-shape of ice
- bior siocáina spear-shape of ice
Italian ghiacciolo
- ghiaccioloa spear-shape of ice
Japanese 氷柱
- 氷柱 (tsurara)a spear-shape of ice
Korean 고드름
- 고드름 (godeureum)a spear-shape of ice
Latin stīria
- stīriaa spear-shape of ice
Latvian lāsteka
- lāstekaa spear-shape of ice
Lithuanian varveklis
- varveklisa spear-shape of ice
Norwegian Bokmål istapp
- istappa spear-shape of ice
Polish sopel
- sopela spear-shape of ice
Portuguese sincelo
- sinceloa spear-shape of ice
Romanian țurțur
- țurțura spear-shape of ice
Russian сосу́лька, сосу́ля
- сосу́лька (sosúlʹka)a spear-shape of ice
- сосу́ля (sosúlja)a spear-shape of ice
Scottish Gaelic caisean-reòta
- caisean-reòtaa spear-shape of ice
Slovak cencúľ
- cencúľa spear-shape of ice
Spanish carámbano, chuzo
- carámbanoa spear-shape of ice
- chuzoa spear-shape of ice
- pinganelloa spear-shape of ice
- candelizoa spear-shape of ice
- pinganilloa spear-shape of ice
- candelaa spear-shape of ice
Swedish istapp
- istappa spear-shape of ice
Tagalog kalamoko
- kalamokoa spear-shape of ice
Thai น้ำแข็งย้อย
- น้ำแข็งย้อย (nám-kɛ̌ng-yɔ́ɔi)a spear-shape of ice
Turkish buz saçağı, buz sarkıtı
- buz saçağıa spear-shape of ice
- buz sarkıtıa spear-shape of ice
Ukrainian буру́лька
- буру́лька (burúlʹka)a spear-shape of ice
Urdu قَلَمِ یَخ
- قَلَمِ یَخ (qalam-i yax)a spear-shape of ice
Vietnamese cột băng, trụ băng
- cột bănga spear-shape of ice
- trụ bănga spear-shape of ice
Welsh pibonwyen, pib iâ
- pibonwyena spear-shape of ice
- pib iâa spear-shape of ice
- cloch iâa spear-shape of ice
Yiddish אײַזליכטל, אײַזצאַפּן
- אײַזליכטל (ayzlikhtl)a spear-shape of ice
- אײַזצאַפּן (ayztsapn)a spear-shape of ice
- סטראָמפּליע (stromplye)a spear-shape of ice
- סטרעמפּל (strempl)a spear-shape of ice
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
icicle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/icicle
“icicle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/icicle. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “icicle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/icicle.
Source: icicle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.