Also bannister. [corruption of BALUSTER, q.v.; though condemned by Nicholson as ‘improper,’ by Stuart (Dict. Archit., 1830) and Gwilt as ‘vulgar,’ the term had already taken literary rank, and has now acquired general acceptance.] Usually in pl.: Slender upright posts or rails, esp. those guarding the side of a staircase, and supporting the handrail; often applied to the whole structure of uprights and handrail.
1667. Primatt, City & C. Build., 66. Posts, Rails, Bannisters.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 165. A pair of Stairs … with Walls and Railes and Bannisters.
1765. H. Walpole, Otranto, v. (1798), 81. The uppermost bannister of the great stairs.
1766. Entick, London, IV. 63. A neat altar-piece, inclosed with rails and banisters.
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, II. i. He comes down stairs … thumping the banisters all the way.
1860. W. Collins, Wom. White, 490. He held fast by the banisters, as he descended the stairs.
b. collect. sing. = Banisters; cf. BALUSTER 4.
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, 344. Going down your staircase, I should be all right so long as I touched the bannister.
