stile

stile

English

WOTD – 27 September 2015

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /staɪl/

Audio (Southern England)

Duration: 2 seconds.0:02

• Rhymes: -aɪl
• Homophone: style

Etymology 1

<figure class="mw-default-size">[1]<figcaption>A stile (sense 1) over a stone wall</figcaption></figure>

From Middle English stile, style, stiȝele, from Old English stiġel (“stile, set of steps for getting over a fence”), from Proto-West Germanic *stigilu, from Proto-Germanic *stigilō (“entry, entrance, overpass, device for climbing, stile”), equivalent to sty (“to ascend, climb”) +‎ -le. Cognate with Dutch stegel (“stirrup”), Low German Stegel (“stile”), German Stiegel (“stile”).

Noun

stile (plural stiles)

1. A set of one or more steps surmounting a fence or wall, or a narrow gate or contrived passage through a fence or wall, which in either case allows people but not livestock to pass. [ quotations ▼]
2. A vertical component of a frame or panel, such as that of a door, window, or ladder.

Alternative forms

• style