pitonn.

Etymology: < French piton (1640 in a Caribbean (Martinique) context, and subsequently from 1765, in sense 1; 1884 in sense 2; earlier in sense ‘nail with a ring-shaped head’ (late 14th cent. in Middle French)), ultimately of imitative origin. In sense 1, the proximate etymon of the French word was probably either Occitan piton mountain peak (compare Occitan (Gascon: Béarn) pitoû hill, summit), apparently a transferred use of piton (see below), or Spanish pitón growing horn of a lamb or kid, tip of a bull's horn (1604), burgeoning offshoot of a tree (17th cent.; < an imitative base + Spanish -ón -oon suffix), the Martinique word probably having been brought to the island by colonists from Gascony (or perhaps northern Spain). In sense 2, the proximate etymon of the French word was Occitan piton nail with a head shaped like a ring or hook, mountaineer's peg ( < pitar to peck (13th–14th cent. in Old Occitan), of imitative origin); compare Catalan pitó peg used in mountaineering (undated); this sense is not paralleled in Spanish until later (second half of the 20th cent.).