stile

Meaning

Noun

• A set of one or more steps surmounting a fence or wall, or a narrow gate or contrived passage through a fence or wall, which in either case allows people but not livestock to pass.
• A vertical component of a frame or panel, such as that of a door, window, or ladder.

Origin

• From Middle English stile, style, stiȝele, from Old English stiġel, from Proto-West Germanic *stigilu, from Proto-Germanic *stigilō ("entry, entrance, overpass, device for climbing, stile"), equivalent to sty + -le. Cognate with Dutch stegel ("stirrup"), Low German Stegel ("stile"), German Stiegel ("stile").