Stair
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
stair¹
- /stɛɚ/ US
- /stɛə/ UK
- /stɛː/ British, Southern, Standard
- /steː/ Australia
- /stiə/
- /steə/ New Zealand
- /steɾ/ Scotland
- /stɜː(ɹ)/
Sounds like stare, steer (cheer–chair merger), stir (fair–fur merger) · Rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ-
Proto-Indo-European *-eti
Proto-Indo-European *stéygʰeti
Proto-Germanic *stīganą
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti
Proto-Germanic *-janą
Proto-Germanic *staigijaną
Proto-Indo-European *-rós
Proto-Germanic *-raz
Proto-Germanic *staigraz
Proto-Germanic *staigriz
Proto-West Germanic *staigri
Old English stǣġer
Middle English steire
English stair
From Middle English steire, staire, stayre, stayer, steir, steyre, steyer, from Old English stǣġer (“stair, staircase”), from Proto-West Germanic *staigri, from Proto-Germanic *staigriz (“stairs, scaffolding”), from Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ- (“to walk, proceed, march, climb”).
Cognate with Dutch steiger (“a stair, step, wharf, pier, scaffolding”), Middle Low German steiger, steir (“scaffolding”), German Low German Steiger (“a scaffold; trestle”). Related to Old English āstǣġan (“to ascend, go up, embark”), Old English stīġan (“to go, move, reach; ascend, mount, go up, spring up, rise; scale”), German Stiege (“a flight of stairs”). More at sty.
noun stairs
- A single step in a staircase.
- A series of steps; a staircase. Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …
Similar: apples and pears
Stair²
Where it comes from
From stair, a topographic surname for someone who lived by a ladder or steps.
proper noun Stairs
- A surname.
