different between stair vs stairtower

English

Etymology

From Middle English steire, staire, stayre, stayer, steir, steyre, steyer, from Old English st??er (“stair, staircase”), from Proto-Germanic *staigriz (“stairs, scaffolding”), from Proto-Indo-European *steyg?- (“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 ?st??an (“to ascend, go up, embark”), Old English st??an (“to go, move, reach; ascend, mount, go up, spring up, rise; scale”), German Stiege (“a flight of stairs”). More at sty.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /st???/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /st??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophone: stare

Noun

stair (plural stairs)

1. A single step in a staircase.

   Synonym: step

2. A series of steps; a staircase.

Synonyms

• (Cockney rhyming slang) apples and pears

Usage notes

• Stairs and stair are used to refer to a single staircase, mostly interchangeably in the UK.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• ladder
• landing

Anagrams

• ISTAR, Ritsa, Sarti, airts, arist, astir, sitar, stria, tarsi, tiars, tisar

Irish

Etymology

From Latin historia. Doublet of stór.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [s?t??a??]

Noun

stair f (genitive singular staire, nominative plural startha)

1. history
2. account, story
3. (literary) repute, fame

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• "stair" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Entries containing “stair” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “stair” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

English

Etymology

stair +? tower

Noun

stairtower (plural stairtowers)

1. A tower with stairs on the inside.

   The castle had four stairtowers when it was built, but only two remain.