Wordwyrt

staple

/sˈteɪpəl/STAY-puhl
/sˈteɪpəl/STAY-puhl

Meaningsupport or post

Common meaning: U-shaped piece of wire used to fasten papers

Journey through time

  1. Old Englishstapul‘support or post’sourceB&T
  2. Middle Englishmeaning shiftssupport or post → metal fasteningstapel‘metal fastening’source
  3. Englishmeaning shiftsmetal fastening → U-shaped piece of wire used to fasten papersstaple‘U-shaped piece of wire used to fasten papers’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English stapul ‘support or post’.

Roots

  • stapul Old English “support or post”

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