banister

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the handrail or complete railing beside a staircase or balcony

   She gripped the banister as she hurried down the stairs.

2. 2
   noun

   one of the upright supports beneath a stair handrail; also called a baluster

   The carpenter replaced a cracked banister beneath the oak rail.

A seventeenth-century alteration of baluster, influenced by earlier forms such as ballester. Baluster came through French and Italian from Greek balaustion, 'pomegranate flower,' whose swelling shape suggested the turned supports of a railing. Banister later came to denote the handrail or whole railing as well.

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