pinochle
UK[ˈpiːnʌk(ə)l]US[ˈpiːnɑːk(ə)l]
n
a card game for two, three, or four players, played with a 48-card deck.
n
a meld in this game, consisting of the queen of spades and the jack of diamonds.
Etymology
the word 'pinochle' entered american english in the 19th century from german dialect, specifically from the german word 'binokel', which itself derives from the french word 'binocle', meaning "eyeglasses" or "lorgnette". this seemingly odd connection stems from the game's original scoring method; the meld of the queen of spades and jack of diamonds was marked by a special counter that resembled a pair of spectacles. the french 'binocle' originates from the latin 'bini' meaning "twofold" and 'oculus' meaning "eye", literally "two-eyed". thus, the journey of 'pinochle' is one of semantic shift, where a term for a visual aid became the name for a card game based on a symbolic scoring marker, with its spelling anglicized over time.
Analysis
this word is a loanword whose english spelling does not transparently reflect its composite germanic roots. it is not segmentable into meaningful english morphemes based on its current spelling.
Examples
we spent the afternoon playing a few hands of pinochle.
his winning pinochle meld secured the game.
she learned the rules of pinochle from her grandparents.