style
/staɪl/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.11 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A particular manner of expression in writing or speech, especially one regarded as good.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Thus while his Thoughts the lingring Day beguile, / To gentle Arcite let us turn our Style; [...]"
- "From Job xix. 24. it appears to have been usual in his day, to write or engrave upon Plates of Lead, which might easily be done with a Pen, or Graver, or Style of Iron, or other hard metal."
- "Laſt of all fit a Triangular Iron, whoſe angular point being laid to the Center of the Dyal Plane, one ſide muſt agree with the Subſtilar Line, and its other ſide with the Stilar Line; ſo is the Stile made. And this Stile you muſt erect perpendicularly over the Subſtilar Line on the Dyal Plane, and there fix it. Then is your Dyal finiſhed."
- "The calyx of Theophraſta is a ſmall, permanent perianthium, divided into five obtuſe ſegments, making obtuſe angles alſo with one another: [...] the ſtyle is ſubulated, and ſhorter than the corolla: the ſtigma is acute."
- "the anal styles of insects"
- "May I not vvrite in such a ſtile as this? / In ſuch a method too, and yet not miſs / Mine end, thy good? vvhy may it not be done?"
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English stile (“writing tool; piece of written work; characteristic mode of expression; demeanour; person's designation or title; stem of a plant; period of time”) (compare semantic development to по́черк (póčerk, “handwriting, style”)), from Old French estile, or from Medieval Latin stylus, both from Latin stilus (“pointed instrument; writing tool; composition; characteristic mode of expression; stem of a plant”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp; to pierce, prick, puncture, stab; to goad”). Doublet of stylus. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates *Catalan estil (“engraving tool, stylus; gnomon; manner of doing something, style; fashionable skill, grace”) * German Stiel (“handle; stalk”) * Italian stilo (“needle, stylus; fountain pen; beam; gnomon; part of pistil, style”) * Occitan estil * Portuguese estilo (“writing tool, stylus; manner of doing something, style”) * Spanish estilo (“writing tool, stylus; manner of doing something, style; fashionable skill, grace; part of pistil, style”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /staɪl/
- British English: /staɪl/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.