# stile

> English word · Noun · IPA /staɪl/ · frequency rank #60,491

## Definitions
1. A set of one or more steps surmounting a fence or wall, or a narrow gate or contrived passage through a fence or wall, which in either case allows people but not livestock to pass.
2. A vertical component of a frame or panel, such as that of a door, window, or ladder.

## Etymology
From Middle English stile, style, stiȝele, from Old English stiġel (“stile, set of steps for getting over a fence”), from Proto-West Germanic *stigilu, from Proto-Germanic *stigilō (“entry, entrance, overpass, device for climbing, stile”), equivalent to sty (“to ascend, climb”) + -le. Cognate with Dutch stegel (“stirrup”), Low German Stegel (“stile”), German Stiegel (“stile”).

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