pistole

P3I1S1T1O1L1E1
UK/ˈpɪstəʊl/UK/pɪˈstəʊl/US/ˈpɪstoʊl/US/pɪˈstoʊl/

noun

A Spanish gold double-escudo coin of the mid-sixteenth century, or any of various gold coins derived from or based on this.

UncommonFirst used 16th c.Scrabble 9

Meanings

pistole1

nounpistole (plural pistoles)

plural pistoles

  1. 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
  2. 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 430
    2 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 275

    The 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

proper nounPistole (plural Pistoles)

plural Pistoles

  1. A surname from German.

Origin

pistole · noun

  1. Proto-Balto-Slavic*pīṣk-
  2. Proto-Slavic*piščalь
  3. Czechpíšťala“whistle”
  4. Frenchpistole
  5. 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).

Full word history & related roots →

Pistole · proper noun

  1. GermanPistole“pistol”
  2. EnglishPistole

Borrowed from German Pistole (“pistol”), probably a nickname for an aggressive person.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with pistole

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

pistole. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pistole

MLA

“pistole.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pistole. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pistole,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pistole.

Source: pistole on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.