stell
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /stɛl/
- Rhymes: -ɛl
Etymology 1
From Middle English stellen, from Old English stellan (“to give a place to, set, place”), from Proto-West Germanic *stalljan (“to put, position”), from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, put, post, stand”). Cognate with Dutch stellen (“to set, put”), Low German stellen (“to put, place, fix”), German stellen (“to set, place, provide”), Old English steall (“position, place”). More at stall.
Verb
stell (third-person singular simple present stells, present participle stelling, simple past and past participle stelled or stold)
- (transitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To place in position; set up, fix, plant; prop, mount.
- 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
- How he escaped a broken neck in that dreadful place no human being will ever ken. The sweat, he has told me, stood in cold drops upon his forehead; he scarcely was aware of the saddle in which he sat, and his eyes were stelled in his head so that he saw nothing but the sky ayont him.
- 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
- (transitive, obsolete) To portray; delineate; display.
- 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], OCLC 236076664, line 1443–44:
- To this well-painted piece is Lucrece come,
To find a face where all distress is stelled.
- 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 24”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, OCLC 216596634:
- Mine eye hath play'd the painter and hath stell'd
Thy beauty's form in table of my heart […]
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Etymology 2
Alteration of stall, after the verb to stell.
Noun
stell (plural stells)
- (archaic) A place; station.
- A stall; a fold for cattle.
- (Scotland) A prop; a support, as for the feet in standing or climbing.
- (Scotland) A still.
- 1786, Robert Burns, "The Author's Earnest Cry And Prayer":
- Paint Scotland greetin owre her thrissle;
Her mutchkin stowp as toom's a whissle;
An' damn'd excisemen in a bussle,
Seizin a stell,
Triumphant crushin't like a mussel,
Or limpet shell!
- Paint Scotland greetin owre her thrissle;
- 1791, Robert Burns, "Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation":
- The English stell we could disdain,
Secure in valour's station;
But English gold has been our bane—
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
- The English stell we could disdain,
- 1786, Robert Burns, "The Author's Earnest Cry And Prayer":
Related terms
- stall
Anagrams
- Tells, tells
German
Pronunciation
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɛl
Verb
stell
- singular imperative of stellen
Icelandic
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Danish stel.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /stɛlː/
- Rhymes: -ɛlː
Noun
stell n (genitive singular stells, nominative plural stell)
- service (set of matching dishes or untensils)
- set of false teeth
Declension
n-s | singular | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | stell | stellið | stell | stellin |
accusative | stell | stellið | stell | stellin |
dative | stelli | stellinu | stellum | stellunum |
genitive | stells | stellsins | stella | stellanna |
Etymology 2
Back-formation from stella (“to potter about, to tinker”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /stɛtl/
- Rhymes: -ɛtl
Noun
stell n (genitive singular stells, no plural)
- pottering, tinkering, idle work
- Synonyms: föndur, bauk, dund, dútl
Declension
n-s | singular | |
---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | |
nominative | stell | stellið |
accusative | stell | stellið |
dative | stelli | stellinu |
genitive | stells | stellsins |
Plautdietsch
Adjective
stell
- quiet, silent, still
- calm, peaceful
Yola
Noun
stell
- Alternative form of sthill (“handle”)
- 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 11:
- An broughet ee stell, ing a emothee knaghane.
- And broke the handle in a pismire-hill.
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References
- Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 88