stell
EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English stellen, from Old English stellan (“to give a place to, set, place”), from Proto-West Germanic *stalljan (“to put, position”), from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, put, post, stand”). Cognate with Dutch stellen (“to set, put”), Low German stellen (“to put, place, fix”), German stellen (“to set, place, provide”), Old English steall (“position, place”). More at stall.
VerbEdit
stell (third-person singular simple present stells, present participle stelling, simple past and past participle stelled or stold)
- (transitive, Britain dialectal, Scotland) To place in position; set up, fix, plant; prop, mount.
- (transitive, obsolete) To portray; delineate; display.
- 1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, 1443–44:
- To this well-painted piece is Lucrece come,
- To find a face where all distress is stelled.
- 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 24:
- Mine eye hath play'd the painter and hath stell'd
- Thy beauty's form in table of my heart ...
- 1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, 1443–44:
Etymology 2Edit
Alteration of stall, after the verb to stell.
NounEdit
stell (plural stells)
- (archaic) A place; station.
- A stall; a fold for cattle.
- (Scotland) A prop; a support, as for the feet in standing or climbing.
- (Scotland) A still.
- 1786, Robert Burns, "The Author's Earnest Cry And Prayer":
- Paint Scotland greetin owre her thrissle;
- Her mutchkin stowp as toom's a whissle;
- An' damn'd excisemen in a bussle,
- Seizin a stell,
- Triumphant crushin't like a mussel,
- Or limpet shell!
- 1791, Robert Burns, "Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation":
- The English stell we could disdain,
- Secure in valour's station;
- But English gold has been our bane-
- Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
- 1786, Robert Burns, "The Author's Earnest Cry And Prayer":
Related termsEdit
AnagramsEdit
GermanEdit
VerbEdit
stell
IcelandicEdit
Etymology 1Edit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
stell n (genitive singular stells, nominative plural stell)
- service (set of matching dishes or untensils)
- set of false teeth
DeclensionEdit
Etymology 2Edit
Back-formation from stella (“to potter about, to tinker”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
stell n (genitive singular stells, no plural)
DeclensionEdit
PlautdietschEdit
AdjectiveEdit
stell