Obs. exc. dial. Forms: 1 stela, steola, stæla, 4–7, 9 stele, 5–6 stile, 5, 7 steele, 6 style, steyle, 6–7 steile, 6–9 steale, 7, 9 steel, 9 steil, steyl, 8–9 stell, steal. [OE. stela wk. masc., f. OTeut. *stel- (cf. Gr. στελεός, -όν handle), ablaut-var. of *stal- whence STALE sb.2 (The OHG. stil, mod.G. stiel, handle, is prob. unconnected).
For the difficulty of distinguishing the forms of the synonymous steal and stale, see STALE sb.2]
1. The stalk or stem of a plant, leaf, flower or fruit.
c. 700. Epinal Gloss., 215. Caulem, stela.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., I. 154. Mædere … bið ʓefrætewud mid feower readum stælum [v.r. stelum, L. cauliculis].
13[?]. Liber regum Angliæ (Auchinleck MS.), in Scott, Minstrelsy (1810), II. 261. Dansimond ȝede and gadred frut, For sothe were plommes white, The steles he puld out everichon, Puisoun he dede therin anon, And sett the steles al ogen, That the gile schuld nought be sen.
13[?]. Propr. Sanct. (Vernon MS.), in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr., LXXXI. 83. Þis whete-corn … þat furst stod on a luytel stele.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., XII. 77. But forto hede hem gret, trede doun the stele [Si capitatum facere volueris, ubi caperit caulis prodire, proculca].
1562. Turner, Herbal, II. 23 b. The floures … stand … vpon theyr stiles or foot stalkes.
1577. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., I. 25. Rye…. The stalke or steale thereof, is smaller then the Wheate stalke.
1601. Holland, Pliny, XIII. vi. I. 389. The steles of the leaves grow contrarie one against the other.
1611. Cotgr., Queue,… the staulke, or steale, of fruits.
1639. Horn & Robotham, Gate Lang. Unl., xi. § 119. A cherry hangeth by somewhat a long stalk, a bullace on somewhat a short stele.
1818. Wilbraham, Chesh. Gloss., Stele, or Steal, the stalk of a flower.
1865. Banks, Prov. Words Wakefield, 68. A ‘musheram steil.’
† b. ? The trunk of a tree. Obs.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., III. 770. Ther is also graffyng in trees seer, As … asshes, quynce; & punyk, cleef his stile [et punico, sed fisso ligno].
† 2. ? A supporting post or pillar, Obs.
c. 1000. Ælfric, De Novo Testamento, 20 (Gr.). Se cinestol stynt on þisum þrim stelum: laboratores, bellatores, oratores.
1547–8. in Swayne, Churchw. Acc. Sarum (1896), 275. For breakynge downe of the steles of the ymages in the churche, xxij d.
† 3. An upright side of a ladder; in later use, a rung or step of a ladder: = STALE sb.2 1. Obs.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 513. Wymmen vnwytte þat wale ne couþe Þat on hande fro þat oþer, for alle þis hyȝe worlde, Bitwene þe stele & þe stayre disserne noȝt cunen.
a. 1395. Hylton, Scala Perf. (W. de W., 1494), II. xvii. A man that woll clymbe vpon a ladder hye & setteth his fote vpon the lowest stele.
c. 1400. Rule St. Benet (Prose), vii. 11. Þe stiȝe hauis tua tres…. Þe stelis bytuixe bitakins oure gude dedis.
c. 1440. York Myst., xxxiv. 91. Sties … With stalworthe steeles…, Bothe some schorte and some lang.
1621. J. Mayer, Engl. Catech., 364. Euery steale of the ladder [is] a part of the ladder.
4. The handle of a tool or utensil (e.g., a hammer, axe, pot, spoon).
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 2230. Þe gome … Sette þe stele to the stone, & stalked bysyde.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIX. 274. Lerned men a ladel bugge with a longe stele.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Miller’s T., 599. And caughte the kultour by the colde stele.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 473/2. Stele, or stert of a vesselle, ansa.
1498. in Somerset Med. Wills (1901), 365. A posnet with a stele and broken feete.
c. 1520. in Gutch, Collect. Cur. (1781), II. 297. Item oone Sponne with a flat Steyle.
1570–80. Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees Soc.), 117. For mendinge the mason’s towles in ther worke and for style to them, 4s. 3d.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., V. xii. 14. An huge Polaxe … Whose steale was yron studded, but not long.
1625. in Rymer Fœdera, XVIII. 239/2. Item a Lookeing Glass sett in Goulde,… the Steele of Aggott.
1631. Gouge, God’s Arrows, I. § 25. 35. The Censer was … made … of gold … with a steele or handle to hold it by.
1788. Vallancey, Voc. Bargie, in Trans. R. Irish Acad., II. 33. Stell, the handle of a thing.
1802. Sibbald, Chron. Sc. P., IV. Gloss. s.v., Steils of a barrow or plough, the handles.
1894. Northumb. Gloss., s.v., The tiller or handle of a rudder was formerly called a steel or ‘start.’
Proverb. phr. 1402. Hoccleve, Lett. Cupid, 50. And whann this man the pot hath be the stele, and fully is in his possessyon. Ibid. (c. 1412), De Reg. Princ., 5247. Thei hadden bi þe stele Prosperite.
b. esp. A long straight handle, e.g., of a rake or broom.
c. 1386, c. 1440. Rake stele [see RAKE sb.1 4].
1523–34. Fitzherb., Husb., § 24. If the rake be made of grene woode, the heed wyll not abyde vppon the stele.
1597. Bp. Hall, Sat., III. vii. 66. Like a broad shak-forke with a slender steale.
1765. Lond. Chron., 6 July, 18. He then went into the pond with a rake-steale in his hand.
1796. [R. Walker], Plebeian Politics (1801), 5. Hee took th’ mop stele, an b’eet it eawt again.
1839. Sir G. C. Lewis, Gloss. Heref., Stele, the wooden handle of a rake or pitchfork.
1879. Jefferies, Wild Life in S. Co., 70. The peculiar broad-headed nail which fastens the mop to the stout ashen ‘steale’ or handle.
† c. The shank of a candlestick; the long neck of a matrass or retort. Obs.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 245/2. Candelabri scapus,… the shanke or stele of the candlesticke.
1594. Plat, Jewell-ho., III. 44. A bolt glasse, hauing a long steale.
d. The stem of a tobacco-pipe.
1672. Josselyn, New-Eng. Rarities, 72. The Roots are … of the bigness of the steel of a Tobacco Pipe.
1866. [R. Hallam], Wadsley Jack, xi. (E.D.D.). [He] shuv’d a poipe steil i’t foire.
† 5. The shaft or stem of an arrow or spear; = STALE sb.2 4. Obs.
1530. Palsgr., 275/2. Steale of a shaft, fust. Ibid., 548/2. I fether a shafte, I put fethers upon a steale, jempenne.
1545. Ascham, Toxoph., II. (Arb.), 123. A shaft hath three principall partes, the stele, the fethers, and the head.
1609. Holland, Amm. Marcell., XXIII. iii. 223. An arrow made of a cane, betwixt the head and the steile.
1611. Cotgr., Fust … the steale of a dart, or iauelin.
