ENGLISH
REFERENCE

sty

n.
US //ˈstaɪ// UK //stˈaɪ// sty Archaic Dialect
Synonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English sty, from Old English stī, stiġ (“sty, pen, a wooden enclosure; hall”, chiefly in compounds). 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”).

Etymology 2

From 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.

Etymology 3

From 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”).

Idioms1 entry

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