Stair

Pronunciation

• GenAm IPA: /stɛɹ/
• RP IPA: /stɛə/
• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
• Homophones: stare

Origin

From Middle English staire, stayre, stayer, steir, steyre, steyer, from Old English stǣġer ("stair, staircase"), from Proto-Germanic *staigriz ("stairs, scaffolding"), from Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ- ("to walk, proceed, march, climb"). Cognate with Dutch steiger ("a stair, step, wharf, pier, scaffolding"), Middle Low German steiger, steir ("scaffolding"). Related to Old English āstǣgan ("to ascend, go up, embark"), Old English stīgan ("to go, move, reach; ascend, mount, go up, spring up, rise; scale"), German Stiege ("a flight of stairs"). More at sty.

Full definition of stair

Noun

1. A single step in a staircase.
2. A series of steps, a staircase.
• 1899, Hughes Mearns, Antigonish, Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …

Usage notes

Stairs and stair are used to refer to a single staircase, mostly interchangeably in the UK.

Derived terms

Anagrams

• airts, arist, astir, sitar, stria, tarsi, tiars