# staple

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsteɪ.pəl/ · frequency rank #11,611

## Definitions
1. A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group.
2. Place of supply; source.
3. The principal commodity produced in a town or region.
4. A basic or essential supply.
5. A recurring topic, character, or item.
6. Short fiber, as of cotton, sheep’s wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread.
7. Unmanufactured material; raw material.
8. a type of two-pronged fastener, usually metal, used for joining, gathering, or binding materials together.

## Etymology
From Middle English staple, from Anglo-Norman estaple, Old French estaple (“market, (trading) post”), from Late Latin stapula, from Frankish *stapul, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stapulaz (“post”), from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (“post, stem”). Compare staff. Doublet of étape and etymology 2.

## Easily confused with
- **state** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-state)
- **style** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-style)
- **stole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-stole)
- **stare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-stare)
- **stave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-stave)
- **stipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-stipe)
- **statue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-statue)
- **Steele** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-steele)
- **starve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-starve)
- **stifle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-stifle)
- **supple** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-supple)
- **steppe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-steppe)
- **steeple** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-steeple)
- **startle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-startle)
- **starlet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-starlet)
- **stapled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-stapled)
- **sale** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sale-vs-staple)
- **stage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stage-vs-staple)
- **scale** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scale-vs-staple)
- **shape** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shape-vs-staple)

## Common misspellings (9)
`satple`, `sstaple`, `stalpe`, `stapel`, `staplle`, `stapple`, `stpale`, `sttaple`, `tsaple`

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