Word
steeple
US/ˈstipəɫ/
UK/stˈiːpəl/
Definitions
01church tower
n. a tall tower on a church, usually with a pointed top called a spire.
n. a tall tower on a church or similar building, typically topped with a spire.
“The white church steeple was visible from miles away across the flat fields.”
“The village skyline was dominated by the medieval church steeple, which had been painstakingly restored after the storm damage of the previous winter.”
03historical headdress
n. a very tall, pointed hat worn by women in the 1300s.
n. a high, conical headdress worn by women in the 14th century.
“In the old painting, the queen wears a tall steeple decorated with silk.”
“The costume designer researched 14th-century fashion to accurately recreate the velvet steeple worn by the noblewomen in the play.”
Archaic
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“On the night of April 18, 1775, a discrete network of watchmen eluded British surveillance and famously hanged two lanterns from the steeple atop Christ Church.” 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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/steeple