Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Sty
Sty
(stī)
, Noun.
pl.
Sties
(stīz)
. [Written also
stigh
.] 1.
A pen or inclosure for swine.
2.
A place of bestial debauchery.
To roll with pleasure in a sensual
sty
. Milton.
Sty
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Stied
(stīd)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Stying
(stī′ĭng)
.] To shut up in, or as in, a sty.
Shak.
Sty
,Verb.
I.
[OE.
stien
, stiȝen
, AS. stīgan
to rise; akin to D. stijgen
, OS. & OHG. stīgan
, G. steigen
, Icel. stīga
, Sw. stiga
, Dan. stige
, Goth. steigan
, L. vestigium
footstep, Gr. [GREEK] to walk, to go, Skr. stigh
to mount. Cf. Distich
, Stair
steps, Stirrup
, Sty
a boil, a pen for swine, Vestige
.] To soar; to ascend; to mount. See
Stirrup
. [Obs.]
With bolder wing shall dare aloft to
To the last praises of this Faery Queene.
sty
,To the last praises of this Faery Queene.
Spenser.
Sty
,Noun.
[For older ]
styan
, styanye
, understood as sty on eye
, AS. stīgend
(sc. eáge
eye), properly, rising, or swelling (eye), p. p. of stīgan
to rise. See Sty
, Verb.
I.
(Med.)
An inflamed swelling or boil on the edge of the eyelid.
[Written also
stye
.] Webster 1828 Edition
Sty
STY
,Noun.
1.
A pen or inclosure for swine.2.
A place of bestial debauchery.To roll with pleasure in a sensual sty.
3.
An inflamed tumor on the edge of the eyelid.STY
,Verb.
T.
STY
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2024
sty
sty
See also: stý
English
Noun
sty (plural sties)
- A pen or enclosure for swine.
- (figuratively) A messy, dirty or debauched place.
- Milton
- To roll with pleasure in a sensual sty.
- Milton
Synonyms
Translations
enclosure for swine
messy or dirty place
|
Verb
sty (third-person singular simple present sties, present participle stying, simple past and past participle stied)
- To place in, or as if in, a sty.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
- To live in a sty, or any messy or dirty place.
Etymology 2
From Middle English stien, stiȝen, from Old English stīġan (“to go; ascend, mount”), from Proto-Germanic *stīganą, from Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ-. Cognate with Dutch stijgen, German steigen, Swedish stiga, Old Norse stíga.
Alternative forms
Verb
sty (third-person singular simple present sties, present participle stying, simple past and past participle stied)
- (obsolete) To ascend, rise up, climb. [9th-17th c.]
- 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible, Isaiah LIII:
- And he schal stie as a ȝerde bifor him, and as a roote fro þirsti lond.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.xi:
- The beast impatient of his smarting wound, / And of so fierce and forcible despight, / Thought with his wings to stye aboue the ground [...].
- 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible, Isaiah LIII:
Derived terms
- styan
- stirrup
Translations
to rise up — see ascend
Noun
sty (plural sties)
Translations
ladder — see ladder
Etymology 3
Probably a back-formation from styany, mistaken for "sty-on-eye" but correctly from Middle English styany, composed of styan ("sty"; from Old English stīġende, present participle of stīgan (“to rise”)) + y (“eye”).
Alternative forms
Noun
sty (plural sties)
- (pathology) An inflammation of the eyelid.
Translations
inflammation — see stye