# stair

> English word · Noun · IPA /stɛɚ/ · frequency rank #20,786

## Definitions
1. A single step in a staircase.
2. A series of steps; a staircase.

## Etymology
From Middle English steire, staire, stayre, stayer, steir, steyre, steyer, from Old English stǣġer (“stair, staircase”), from Proto-West Germanic *staigri, 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”), German Low German Steiger (“a scaffold; trestle”). Related to Old English āstǣġan (“to ascend, go up, embark”), Old English stīġan (“to go, move, reach; ascend, mount, go up, spring up, rise; scale”), German Stiege (“a flight of stairs”). More at sty.

## Easily confused with
- **STR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-str)
- **STI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-sti)
- **stay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stay)
- **star** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-star)
- **stan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stan)
- **stir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stir)
- **stat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stat)
- **stig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stig)
- **state** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-state)
- **start** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-start)
- **stand** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stand)
- **stars** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stars)
- **strip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-strip)
- **stats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stats)
- **stays** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stays)
- **stake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stake)
- **stamp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stamp)
- **stark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stark)
- **stare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stare)
- **stall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stair-vs-stall)

## Common misspellings (7)
`satir`, `sstair`, `stairr`, `stari`, `stiar`, `sttair`, `tsair`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stair