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Webster 1913 Edition


Sty

Sty

(stī)
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Sties
(stīz)
.
[Written also
stigh
.]
[AS.
stigu
, fr.
stīgan
to rise; originally, probably, a place into which animals climbed or went up. √164. See
Sty
,
Verb.
I.
, and cf.
Steward
.]
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
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.
To shut up in a sty.

STY

,
Verb.
I.
To soar; to ascend. [Not in use.] [See Stirrup.]

Definition 2024


sty

sty

See also: stý

English

Noun

sty (plural sties)

  1. A pen or enclosure for swine.
  2. (figuratively) A messy, dirty or debauched place.
    • Milton
      To roll with pleasure in a sensual sty.
Synonyms
Translations

Verb

sty (third-person singular simple present sties, present participle stying, simple past and past participle stied)

  1. To place in, or as if in, a sty.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  2. 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)

  1. (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 [...].
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

sty (plural sties)

  1. (Britain, dialectal) A ladder.
Translations

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)

  1. (pathology) An inflammation of the eyelid.
Translations