Gargoyle

WOTD - 24 April 2010    

English

File:Cathedrale d'Amiens - Gargouille sanglier.jpg

Gargoyles (spouts) at Amiens Cathedral.

Noun

Gargoyle (plural Gargoyles)

1. A carved grotesque figure on a spout which conveys water away from the gutters.
   • 1906, Rafael Sabatini, The Trampling of the Lilies‎, page 110

     From between set teeth came now a flow of oaths and imprecations as steady as the flow of water from the gargoyle overhead.

2. Any decorative carved grotesque figure on a building.
3. A fictional winged creature.
   • 2005, Mel Odom, The Secret Explodes‎, page 200

     Almost immediately one of the gargoyles swept down from the sky and attacked him. The gargoyle's momentum drove them both over the side.

4. (slang, pejorative) An ugly woman.

Synonyms

• (any decorative carved grotesque figure): grotesque, hunky punk
• (ugly woman): crone, hag

Thesaurus

baboon, bag, beak, blemish, blot, dog, downspout, eyesore, fright, hag, harridan, mess, monster, monstrosity, no beauty, scarecrow, sight, spout, teratism, ugly duckling, waterspout, witch

Etymology

From Old French.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈɡɑː.ɡɔɪl/
• (US) IPA: /ˈɡɑɹ.ɡɔɪl/

Translations

carved grotesque figure on a spout

Finnish: gargouille (fi), gargoili (fi) French: gargouille (fr) f. Galician: gárgola (gl) f. Hungarian: vízköpő (hu) Italian: gargouille (it) f., gargolla (it) f.

Polish: gargulec (pl) m., rzygacz (pl) m. Portuguese: gárgula (pt) f. Romanian: gargui (ro) n. Russian: горгулья (ru) (gorgúl'ja) f. Spanish: gárgola (es) f.

decorative figure on a building

Esperanto: gargojlo (eo) French: gargouille (fr) f.

Polish: gargulec (pl) m. Russian: горгулья (ru) (gorgúl'ja) f.

fictional winged creature

Finnish: gargoili (fi)

Spanish: gárgola (es) f.

pejorative slang: an ugly woman

Finnish: noita (fi)