This part of ISO 8119 gives, in English, French and Russian, the terminology relating to compound needles. These needles are a type of knitting element. Compound needles consist of a needle element and a closing element. The needle element has a mainly flat cross section and a hook-shaped head. The closing element is guided for most of its length by the needle element, has a mainly flat shank, and is used for closing the hook. NOTE — In addition to terms used in the three official ISO languages (English, French and Russian), this part of ISO 8119 gives the equivalent terms in the German and Chinese languages; these have been included at the request of ISO Technical Committee TC 72 and are published under the responsibility of the member body for Germany (DIN) and for China (CSBTS). However, only the terms given in the official languages can be considered as ISO terms.