stile

noun

a series of steps or rungs by means of which a person may pass over a wall or fence that remains a barrier to sheep or cattle.

a turnstile.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English stigel, derivative of stīgan to climb, cognate with German steigen

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun Carpentry, Furniture.

any of various upright members framing panels or the like, as in a system of paneling, a paneled door, window sash, or chest of drawers. Compare rail¹ ( def 8 ).

Origin:
1670–80; perhaps < Dutch stijl (door-, bed-) post, strut

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10

Stile is always a great word to know.

So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

stile¹ (staɪl)

—n
1.	a set of steps or rungs in a wall or fence to allow people, but not animals, to pass over
2.	short for turnstile

[Old English stigel; related to stīgan to climb, Old High German stigilla; see stair]

stile² (staɪl)

—n
	Compare rail a vertical framing member in a door, window frame, or piece of panelling

[C17: probably from Dutch stijl pillar, ultimately from Latin stilus writing instrument; see style]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

stile

O.E. stigel "device for climbing, ladder," related to stigen "to climb," from P.Gmc. *stig- "to climb," (see stair). An arrangement to allow persons to pass but not sheep and cattle.

Example sentences

They climbed over a stile and went along the edge of a wood.

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muntin pocket piece push plate rail slamming stile style

Matching Quote

"Since I am upon this Subject, I must observe that our English Poets have succeeded much better in the Stile, than in the Sentiments of their Tragedies. Their Language is very often noble and sonorous, but the sense either very trifling or very common. On the contrary, in the ancient Tragedies, and indeed in those of Corneille and Racine, tho' the Expressions are very great, it is the Thought that bears them up and swells them. For my own part, I prefer a noble Sentiment that is depressed with homely Language, infinitely before a vulgar one that is blown up with all the Sound and Energy of Expression. Whether this Defect in our Tragedies may arise from Want of Genius, Knowledge, or Experience in the Writers, or from their Compliance with the vicious Taste of their Readers, who are better Judges of the Language than of the Sentiments, and consequently relish the one more than the other, I cannot determine."

-Joseph Addison

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