steeple

noun
/ˈstiːpəl/UK

Etymology

From Middle English stepel, from Old English stīpel, stȳpel, stīepel (“tower, steeple”), from Proto-West Germanic *staupil, from Proto-Germanic *staupilaz (“that which is steep, tower, steeple”), equivalent to steep + -le. Cognate with Old Norse stǫpull (“tower, steeple”).

  1. inherited from *staupilaz — “that which is steep, tower, steeple
  2. inherited from *staupil
  3. inherited from stīpel
  4. inherited from stepel

Definitions

  1. A tall tower, often on a church, normally topped with a spire.

    • Above the session-room of the Council is the steeple, and in the steeple is the belfry, where exists, and has existed time out of mind, the pride and wonder of the village—the great clock of the borough of Vondervotteimittiss.
    • So, the woman and the child had gone by, and gone on, and five had sounded from the steeples.
  2. A spire.

  3. A high headdress of the 14th century.

  4. + 3 more definitions
    1. To form something into the shape of a steeple.

      • He steepled his fingers as he considered the question.
      • Mr. Ziegler is now angled forward with his elbows on his knees and his fingers steepled just under his nose.
    2. A hamlet in Steeple with Tyneham parish, Dorset, England, previously in Purbeck district…

      A hamlet in Steeple with Tyneham parish, Dorset, England, previously in Purbeck district (OS grid ref SY9181).

    3. A village and civil parish in Maldon district, Essex, England (OS grid ref TL9303).

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for steeple. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA