sty
English
editPronunciation
editEtymology 1
editFrom Middle English sty, from Old English stī, stiġ (“sty, pen, a wooden enclosure; hall”, chiefly in compounds), from Proto-Germanic *stiją. Cognate with German Stiege (“wooden crate”), dialectal German Steige (“hen-coop”), Danish sti (“sty, enclosure for swine, sheep, hens, etc.”), Swedish stia (“sty for pigs, geese, etc.”), Norwegian sti (“flock of sheep”), Icelandic stía (“a kennel”).
Noun
edit- A pen or enclosure for swine.
- (figurative) A messy, dirty or debauched place.
- 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:
- To roll with pleasure in a sensual sty.
Synonyms
editDerived terms
editTranslations
edit
|
|
Verb
editsty (third-person singular simple present sties, present participle stying, simple past and past participle stied)
- (transitive) To place in, or as if in, a sty.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
- and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest o' the island
- (transitive) To live in a sty, or any messy or dirty place.
Etymology 2
editFrom Middle English stien, stiȝen, stighen, from Old English stīgan (“to go; ascend, mount”), from Proto-West Germanic *stīgan, from Proto-Germanic *stīganą, from Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ-. Cognate with Dutch stijgen, German steigen, Danish stige, Norwegian Bokmål stige, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish stiga, Old Norse stíga.
Alternative forms
editVerb
editsty (third-person singular simple present sties, present participle stying, simple past and past participle stied)
- (obsolete) To ascend, rise up, climb. [9th–17th c.]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- The beast impatient of his smarting wound, / And of so fierce and forcible despight, / Thought with his wings to stye aboue the ground [...].
- 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Muiopotmos, or The Fate of the Butterflie”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:
- From this lower tract he dared to stie up to the clowdes.
- 1621, Richard Montague, Diatribae upon the first part of the late History of Tithes:
- Led along, as some Creatures are, by the Noses, and voluntarily hood-winked; or like seeled Doves, sty up, you know not whither, nor how far.
- 1652, Edward Benlowes, Theophila, or Love's Sacrifice:
- That she might sty to the seat of Beatifick Mirth.
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editNoun
editsty (plural sties)
Translations
editEtymology 3
editFrom Middle English styanye, mistaken as "sty on eye" yet composed of Old English stīġend (“sty”, literally “riser”), agent noun from stīgan (“to rise”) Middle English yë (“eye”).
Alternative forms
editNoun
editsty (plural sties)
- (pathology) An inflammation of the eyelid.
Translations
editAnagrams
editMiddle English
editEtymology 1
editInherited from Old English stiġ, stī, from Proto-West Germanic *stij, from Proto-Germanic *stiją.
Alternative forms
editPronunciation
editNoun
editsty (plural styes)
Descendants
edit- English: sty
References
edit- “stī, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-08.
Etymology 2
editInherited from Old English stīġ, from Proto-West Germanic *stīgu, from Proto-Germanic *stīgō.
Alternative forms
editPronunciation
editNoun
edit- A path, track or street.
- (figurative) One's chosen pathway or choices in life.
- (figurative, rare) A short narrative.
References
edit- “stī(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-08.
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aɪ
- Rhymes:English/aɪ/1 syllable
- English terms with homophones
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *steygʰ-
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms with obsolete senses
- British English
- English dialectal terms
- en:Diseases
- en:Animal dwellings
- en:Bacterial diseases
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English terms with rare senses
- enm:Animal dwellings
- enm:Human behaviour
- enm:Roads