Forms: 1 stol, 4, 6 stoele, 4–6 stoole, 4, 7 stool, 5 stoll, 5–6 stollo, 6 stoale, stoel, stoile, stoill, stoyle, stoyll, 7 stoal, 4– stole. [ad. L. stola, ad. Gr. στολή, orig. equipment, array, clothing, hence a robe, garment, f. root of στέλλειν to place, array. Cf. OF. estole (mod.F. étole), Sp., Pg. estola, It. stola. The use of L. stola = sense 2 has not been found earlier than the 9th century; its origin is obscure.]
1. A long robe.
† a. In translations from or allusions to passages of the Vulgate or patristic texts. Obs.
First or prime stole, transl. of Vulg. stolam primam (Gr. στολήν τὴν πρώτην), ‘the best robe’ in the parable of the Prodigal Son.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Mark xii. 38. From uðuutum ðaðe wallas in stolum geonga.
a. 1000. Durham Ritual (Surtees), 45. Stol wvldres ʓiʓeride hine stola glorie induit eum [Ecclus. xlv. 7].
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, xxix. 15. He … vmgifs vs … with gladnes of þe first stole.
1380. Lay Folks Catech. (Lamb. MS.), 1115. [Crist] wyle cloþe our sowlys … with þe stole of vndedlynesse.
1382. Wyclif, Isa. lxiii. 1. Who is this that cam fro Edom…? this shapli in his stole?
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., IV. ix. 473. Pharisees … louen forto walke in stolis.
c. 1450. Godstow Reg., 17. Þat we ben cladde in a snow whyȝt stole Thorgh þe vertue of þe holy goost.
c. 1520. Nisbet, N. T., Apoc. vi. 11. And quhite stolis, for ilk saule a stole, war gevin to thame.
1540. Palsgr., Acolastus, V. v. Bb j b. Brynge forth … at ones the fyrst stole.
1561. Daus, trans. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573), 92. The saintes (saith S. Gregory) enioy as yet but one stole or robe a peece.
1596. T. Bell, Surv. Popery, III. ix. 366. These (saith S. John) are they which came from great tribulation & washed their stoales, and made them white in the bloud of the Lambe.
1648. Bp. Hall, Select Th., xiii. 52. It must be the main care of our lives, how to put on Christ upon our souls: This is the prime stole wherewith the father of the Prodigal, graceth his returned son.
1649. Jer. Taylor, Great Exemp., III. Ad Sec xv. 95. They might be reinvested with a robe of his righteousnesse wearing that till it were changed into a Stole of glory [cf. Ecclus. xlv. 7].
c. 1850. Neale, Hymns East. Ch., 94. In that same hour I lost the glorious stole Of innocence.
b. In poetic or rhetorical use. Often fig.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 45. Her all in white he clad, and ouer it Cast a blacke stole.
1593. Peele, Hon. Order Garter, B 4. Fame in a Stoale of purple, set with eyes, And eares, and tongues, carryed a golden Booke.
1597. Shaks., Lover’s Compl., 297. There my white stole of chastity I daft.
c. 1620. T. Robinson, Mary Magd., I. 10. How night … Put on the glitteringe stole of brightest day.
1632. Milton, Penseroso, 35. And sable stole of Cipres Lawn, Over thy decent shoulders drawn.
1742. Shenstone, Schoolmistr., 64. A russet stole was o’er her shoulders thrown.
1753. T. Warton, Ode Approach Summer, 255. When mild Morn in saffron stole First issues from her eastern goal.
1793[?]. Coleridge, Songs of Pixies, 95. Graceful Ease in artless stole.
1845. L. Hunt, Poems, Fancy Concert, 37. With their singers in lily-white stoles.
1878. B. Taylor, Pr. Deukalion, II. ii. 61. The phantom purple underneath thy stole We see.
c. With reference to classical antiquity. (Cf. STOLA.) Also (in Scott) quasi-arch. with reference to mediæval costume.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 223. In Albist[elrio … were i-made white stolis for emperours [L. ubi fiebant stolæ imperatorum].
c. 1510. Virgilius (Doesborcke), A iiij b. And there he sawe his vnkell a fore hym stand in his emperly stole.
1725. Pope, Odyss., VI. 88. The blooming virgin with dispatchful cares Tunics, and stoles, and robes imperial bears.
1790. Cowper, Odyss., IV. 378. Beside him, Helen of the sweeping stole.
1811. Scott, Fam. Lett., 4 April (1894), I. 212. The lady … should I think have a sort of stole or loose upper garment.
1812. Byron, Ch. Har., II. ii. The warrior’s weapon and the sophist’s stole Are sought in vain.
1847. Leitch, trans. C. O. Müller’s Anc. Art, § 246. 223. His courtiers in two different regularly alternating costumes,—the Median stole and the candys.
1850. Blackie, Æschylus, I. 110. See! my rent and ragged stole Speaks the conflict of my soul.
¶ d. Some writers have carelessly or ignorantly supposed the ecclesiastical ‘stole’ (sense 2) to be a gown or surplice.
1805. Scott, Last Minstrel, V. xxx. Behind, four priests, in sable stole, Sung requiem for the warrior’s soul.
1831. Carlyle, Sartor Res., III. xi. The fair fabric of Society itself, with all its royal mantles and pontifical stoles.
1840. Barham, Ingol. Leg., Jackdaw of Rheims, 35. Six little Singing-boys,—dear little souls! In nice clean faces, and nice white stoles.
1869. B. Taylor, By-Ways Europe, I. 219. Here the rustling of stoles and the muttering of prayers suggest incantation rather than worship.
2. Eccl. A vestment consisting of a narrow strip of silk or linen, worn over the shoulders (by deacons over the left shoulder only) and hanging down to the knee or lower.
c. 1025. MS. Laud 482 lf. 48 a. Scryde hine mid … alban & stolan & handline [etc.].
13[?]. K. Alis., 4714. A withthe was heore stole, certes, With on othir they weoren y-gurte.
c. 1315. Shoreham, Poems, I. 1403. And nou þe stole a-fongeþ hy Ope here scholder lefte.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Merch. T., 459. Forth comth the preest with stole aboute his nekke.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 1581. Þan fyndis he in þis oþire flote fanons and stolis Practisirs & prematis & prestis of þe lawe.
1481. Caxton, Godfrey, cxli. 209. The men of the Chirche reuested with awbes and stooles.
1485. Device for Coronation Hen. VII., in Rutland Papers (Camden), 18. The armyll is made in manner of a stole wovyn with gold & set with stones, to be putt by the Cardinall aboute the Kinges necke.
c. 1550. Bale, K. Johan, 1147. Put on yowr stolle then, and, I pray yow in Godes name, sytt.
1552. Invent. Ch. Goods York, etc. (Surtees), 42. Item, ij old whyt vestmentes with albe, and stoill, and fannells.
1561. T. Norton, Calvin’s Inst., IV. xix. (1634), 329. Upon the Deacon that is ordered, the Bishop … layeth a prayer booke and a Stoale upon his left shoulder.
1579. Fulke, Heskins’ Parl., 84. M. Heskins mainteyneth reseruation by dipping of stoales, and linnen clothes in ye cup.
1764. in Johanna H. Harting, Hist. Sardinian Chapel (1905), 23. Two copes with a large stole embroidered in gold thread, with gold fringe round the back.
1844. Lingard, Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858), II. ix. 69. The usual episcopal vestments, the amise … stole [etc.].
1865. Walcott, Cathedralia, 93. A canon was to wear in all places the insignia of his rank,… in England now a broad scarf instead of the narrow stole.
1877. J. D. Chambers, Div. Worship, 48. The Stole, if worn by the Deacon, should be worn suspended over the left shoulder.
1885. Notes on Angels, 38. 4. The Dominions, 5. The Virtues, and 6. The Powers wear albs down to the feet, golden girdles, and green stoles.
1904. Mrs. Creighton, Life Bp. Creighton, II. 35. Each man to be ordained priest was bidden to bring his stole in his hand.
† b. Often referred to as the vestment worn by a priest when engaged in exorcism or conjuration.
c. 1450. Lovelich, Graal, xlv. 312. Thanne the Goode Man took haliwater Anon, and his stole, and gan forth to gon.
c. 1590. Greene, Fr. Bacon, iv. iii. 1835. Coniuring and adiuring diuels and fiends, With stole and albe and strange Pentagonon.
1598. Barckley, Felic. Man, I. (1603), 55. Taking his stole and other instruments for his conjuration with him, to the sicke woman hee goeth.
1626. L. Owen, Spec. Jesuit. (1629), 42. When the Coniurer did but touch her with the stole or with some of his rotten Relikes.
c. Hist. In the names of certain knightly orders: see quots.
1728. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Stole, Order of the Stole, an Order of Knights instituted by the Kings of Arragon.… The first Time we hear of it, is under Alphonsus V. who mounted the Throne in 1416…. Order of the Golden Stole, a military Order at Venice; thus called from a golden Stole which the Knights wear over the Left Shoulder.
d. An embroidered strip of linen, hanging down in front of an altar.
1513. in Archæologia, LXVI. 340. Itm a frontlett for an aulter wrought in the stole.
1845. Ecclesiologist, IV. 103. We have not spoken of the stoles of the altar, because their use … was never general…. They occur in … Van Eyck’s … Adoration of the Lamb.
3. A woman’s fur or feather garment, something in the shape of an ecclesiastical stole, worn over the shoulders and hanging down nearly to the feet.
1889. Advt. Furs, Victorias, Capes, Stoles, and Muffs, in every description of fur.
1892. Lady, 29 Dec., 826/3. One sees a cloak lined with sable … accompanied by a stole and muff to match.
1904. Daily Mail, 28 March, 1/4. Fashionable feather stoles, Good Feather,… 10/6.
1906. Ch. Times, 28 Dec., 848. Advt., Real Russian Sable Hair long throwover Stole with extra fine quality tails.
4. attrib. (senses 2, 3) as stole-end, -front, -tab; stole-like, adj. and adv.; stole-fees pl. [after G. stolgebühren] = SURPLICE-fees.
1896. Daily News, 7 March, 6/3. Jackets … with Watteau pleats at the back and *stole ends in front.
1845. Sarah Austin, Ranke’s Hist. Ref., V. iii. III. 83. The greater part of the *stole fees were abolished.
1897. Taunton, Engl. Black Monks, I. 56. Master Vicar … got his one-third clear, a house free of rent, and all his stole fees and dues.
1892. Daily News, 16 June, 6/1. The collar had *stole fronts, and the bodice was finished with black ribbons.
1876. Rock, Textile Fabrics, 90. A *stole-like band of rich white tissue.
1865. Direct Angl. (ed. 2), 24. The Amyss … is a large fur cape…; its ‘tippets,’ i. e. two strips of fur in front, fall, *stole-like, below the knees.
1903. Daily Chron., 25 July, 8/4. The collar … forms *stole-tabs upon the shoulders.
