sty

Meanings

Noun

• A pen or enclosure for swine.
• A messy, dirty or debauched place.
• A ladder.
• An inflammation of the eyelid.

Verb

• To place in, or as if in, a sty
• To live in a sty, or any messy or dirty place
• To ascend, rise up, climb.

Related

Similar words

• pigpen, pigsty
• hovel, pigsty

Origin

• From Middle English sty, from Old English stī, stiġ, from Proto-Germanic *stiją. Cognate with German Steige ("hen-coop"), Danish sti ("enclosure for swine, sheep, hens, etc."), Swedish stia ("sty for pigs, geese, etc."), Norwegian sti ("flock of sheep"), Icelandic stía ("a kennel").
• From Middle English stien, stiȝen, stighen, from Old English stīgan, from Proto-West Germanic *stīgan, from Proto-Germanic *stīganą, from Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ-. Cognate with Dutch stijgen, German steigen, Norwegian Bokmål stige, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish stiga, Old Norse stíga.
• From Middle English styanye, mistaken as "sty on eye" yet composed of Old English stīġend, agent noun from stīgan + Middle English yë.