stool

stool
\ \ [OE] Although stools are for sitting on, the word’s etymological meaning is ‘stand’. It comes from a prehistoric Germanic *stōlaz, which was formed from the base *stō-, *sta- ‘stand’ (source of English stand) using the noun suffix *-l- (in much the same way as saddle was formed from a base meaning ‘sit’). The notion of ‘standing’ no doubt passed into ‘sitting’ via an intermediate generalized ‘be positioned or situated’. In the 15th century stool came to be applied specifically to a ‘commode’, and this led to its use in the following century for an ‘act of defecating’, and hence for a ‘piece of faeces’. Stoolpigeon [19] originated in American English as a term for a decoy pigeon tied to a stool.
\ \ Cf.⇒ STALL, STAND

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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Synonyms:
(without a back) / (from the bowels),


Look at other dictionaries:

  • Stool — Stool, n. [AS. st[=o]l a seat; akin to OFries. & OS. st[=o]l, D. stoel, G. stuhl, OHG. stuol, Icel. st[=o]ll, Sw. & Dan. stol, Goth. st[=o]ls, Lith. stalas a table, Russ. stol ; from the root of E. stand. [root]163. See {Stand}, and cf.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • stool|ie — stool|y or stool|ie «STOO lee», noun, plural stool|ies. U.S. Slang. a stool pigeon …   Useful english dictionary

  • stool|y — or stool|ie «STOO lee», noun, plural stool|ies. U.S. Slang. a stool pigeon …   Useful english dictionary

  • stool — [ stul ] noun count * 1. ) a seat that has legs but no support for your back or arms: a bar/piano stool 2. ) TECHNICAL a piece of solid waste from someone s body: stool samples …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • stool — (n.) O.E. stol seat for one person, from P.Gmc. *stolaz (Cf. O.Fris. stol, O.N. stoll, O.H.G. stuol, Ger. Stuhl seat, Goth. stols high seat, throne ), from PIE *sta lo , locative of root *sta to stand (Cf. Lith …   Etymology dictionary

  • stool — [sto͞ol] n. [ME < OE stol, akin to Ger stuhl < IE * stal (> OSlav stolū, throne, seat) < base * sta , to STAND] 1. a) a single seat having three or four legs and no back or arms b) FOOTSTOOL 2. the inside ledge at the bottom of a… …   English World dictionary

  • Stool — Stool, n. [L. stolo. See {Stolon}.] (Hort.) A plant from which layers are propagated by bending its branches into the soil. P. Henderson. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Stool — Stool, v. i. (Agric.) To ramfy; to tiller, as grain; to shoot out suckers. R. D. Blackmore. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • stool — [stu:l] n [: Old English; Origin: stol] 1.) a seat that has three or four legs, but no back or arms ▪ a bar stool 2.) medical a piece of solid waste from your ↑bowels …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • stool — ► NOUN 1) a seat without a back or arms. 2) chiefly Medicine a piece of faeces. 3) a root or stump of a tree or plant from which shoots spring. 4) US a decoy bird in hunting. ● fall between two stools Cf. ↑fall between two stools …   English terms dictionary

  • stool — bar·stool; birth·stool; bishop·stool; close·stool; cuck·stool; de·stool; en·stool; fald·stool; frith·stool; stool; stool·ie; stool·ing; de·stool·ment; …   English syllables

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