SHINGLE  . (r) A

Middle English corruption of schindle, from Lat. scindula or scandula, a wooden tile, from scandere, to cut—a kind of wooden tile, generally of oak, used in places where timber is plentiful, for covering roofs, spires, &c . In England they are generally plain, but on the continent of Europe the ends are sometimes rounded, pointed or cut into ornamental form . (2) Water-worn detritus, of larger and coarser form than gravel, chiefly used of the pebbly detritus of a sea-beach . This word is of Norwegian origin, from singl or singling, coarse gravel . It is apparently derived from single, to make a ringing sound, a form of " to sing," with allusion to the peculiar noise made when walking over shingle . (3) The word " shingles," the common name of herpes zoster, a particular form of the inflammatory eruption of the skin known as herpes (q.v.), is the plural of an obsolete word for a girdle, sengle, taken through O . Fr. cengle from Lat. cingulum, cingere, to gird .