aisle
/aɪ̯l/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.72 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A clear corridor in a supermarket with shelves on both sides containing goods for sale.
noun
Any path through an otherwise obstructed space.
noun
An idiomatic divide between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, who are said to be on two sides of the aisle.
American usage
noun
The path of a wedding procession in a church or other venue; (by extension, metonymic) marriage.
Example Sentences
- "Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the aisle with bundles of wheat-ears and streamers of ivy, for the harvest thanksgiving was shortly to be celebrated, while the vicar stood waiting for their directions on the chancel steps with a great handful of crimson gladioli."
- "In one of the aisles there was an elaborately carved confessional box and I recognised the village priest in his heavy mountain boots and black cassock as he entered it and drew the dark velvet curtains behind him."
- "But the design of the '730s' wasn't just about the seating formation. The Metro-style walkthrough interior was chosen because it is much more spacious than the '323s', where the interconnecting doors between carriages, narrow central aisle, and cramped areas by the passenger doors had been deemed particularly constraining."
- "It is realised that the old Pullman standard sleeper, with its convertible "sections", each containing upper and lower berths, and with no greater privacy at night than the curtains drawn along both sides of a middle aisle, has had its day."
- "Do you want to seat window or aisle?"
- "You ask her if she loves you, she answers, "I do" / Your heart starts glowing inside / And then you will know she is just for you / While each step, draws you closer to the aisle"
Etymology
From Middle English ele, from Anglo-Norman ele (“wing”) (Modern French aile), from Latin āla (whence English ala). Further from Latin axis (whence English axis, atelier). Via Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- cognate with English axle, Ancient Greek ἄξων (áxōn) (whence English axo-, axon). The modern pronunciation has been influenced by English isle, whence the obsolete form isle; the modern spelling reflects further modification of this form after modern French aile.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /aɪ̯l/
- British English: /aɪ̯l/
Usage
- American usage