storey

Meaning

Noun

• A building; an edifice.
• A floor or level of a building or ship.
• A vertical level in certain letters, such as a and g.

Origin

• From Middle English story, via Medieval Latin historia ("narrative, illustraton, frieze") from Ancient Greek ἱστορίᾱ ("learning through research"), from ἱστορέω, from ἵστωρ, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ("to see, know"). The current sense arose from narrative friezes on upper levels of medieval buildings, esp. churches.
• An alternative etymology derives Middle English story from Old French *estoree ("a thing built, building"), from estoree, feminine past participle of estorer, from Latin instaurare ("to construct, build, erect"), but this seems unlikely since historia already had the meaning "storey of a building" in Anglo-Latin.