Meanings
pistole1
plural pistoles
- historicalA Spanish gold double-escudo coin of the mid-sixteenth century, or any of various gold coins derived from or based on this.First known use 16th c.
1 more example
Ralph and I were inseparable Companions. We took Lodgings together in Little Britain at 3/6 per Week, as much as we could then afford. He found some Relations, but they were poor & unable to assist him. He now let me know his Intentions of remaining in London, and that he never meant to return to Philadelphia. He had brought no Money with him, the whole he could muster having been expended in paying his Passage. I had 15 Pistoles: So he borrowed occasionally of me, to subsist while he was looking out for Business. [...]
1793, Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, §21 - broadlyA disc-shaped piece of chocolate, the size of a coin, designed for melting when cooking.
Chocolate pistoles from the manufacturer work best, as they arrive tempered and are uniform in size.
2017, R. Andrew Chlebana, The Advanced Art of Baking & Pastry, Wiley, →ISBN, page 4302 more examples
They were exceptional semi-sweet chocolate chips, with a flat shape that I’ve recreated here with chocolate pistoles, flat wafers or disks each about ⅞ inch in diameter. The pistoles disperse randomly through the dough, so that slicing the logs into cookies creates an attractive mosaic, with little spokes of chocolate scattered here and there.
2008, Flo Braker, “Say It with Cookies”, in Baking for All Occasions: A Treasury of Recipes for Everyday Celebrations, Chronicle Books, →ISBN, Chocolate Chip Cookie Logs, page 275The chocolate that I prefer for most recipes for this book is bittersweet chocolate pistoles. I like their flavor, size, and convenience.
2008, Warren Brown, “Pound Cakes”, in CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, →ISBN, Chocolate-Apricot Pound Cake
Pistole2
Origin
pistole · noun
- Proto-Balto-Slavic*pīṣk-
- Proto-Slavic*piščalь
- Czechpíšťala“whistle”
- Frenchpistole
- Englishpistole
Borrowed from French pistole, of uncertain origin. Probably ultimately from Czech píšťala (“whistle”), from Proto-Slavic *piščalь, from *piskati, *piščati (“to squeak, whistle”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *pīṣk-. Alternatively, perhaps from Pistoia (a city in Tuscany).
More words from French, Czech, Proto-Slavic
Full word history & related roots →Pistole · proper noun
- GermanPistole“pistol”
- EnglishPistole
Borrowed from German Pistole (“pistol”), probably a nickname for an aggressive person.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pistole
Anagrams
Cite this entry
pistole. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pistole
“pistole.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pistole. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pistole,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pistole.
Source: pistole on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.