pigeonhole

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈpɪdʒənˌhoʊl/ UK /ˈpɪdʒɪnˌhəʊl/ See IPA manual

verb noun

Meanings

1

verb
to categorize narrowly, or a small compartment for papers

Critics tried to pigeonhole her as a romance writer.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to categorize narrowly, or... categorize classify labelcompartmentalizestereotypetypecast

Word family

Related forms pigeon hole

Etymology

From pigeon + hole, originally a small recess in a dovecote where pigeons nest; the sense of a desk compartment, and thence the figurative verb 'to categorize narrowly', developed by analogy.

hol Old English

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Topics

Describing Qualities

# pigeonhole

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** ˈpɪdʒənˌhoʊl
**IPA (UK):** ˈpɪdʒɪnˌhəʊl

## Meanings
1. to categorize narrowly, or a small compartment for papers

## Examples
- Critics tried to pigeonhole her as a romance writer.

## Synonyms
- categorize
- classify
- label
- compartmentalize
- stereotype
- typecast

## Related Forms
- pigeon
- hole

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hol

## Etymology
From pigeon + hole, originally a small recess in a dovecote where pigeons nest; the sense of a desk compartment, and thence the figurative verb 'to categorize narrowly', developed by analogy.

## AI Etymology
Pigeonhole comes from pigeon + hole, originally a small recess in a dovecote where pigeons nest; the sense of a desk compartment, and thence the figurative verb 'to categorize narrowly', developed by analogy. The etymological trail includes Old English hol. As a verb, pigeonhole means to categorize narrowly, or a small compartment for papers. The same family is visible in related forms such as pigeon and hole. Morphologically, the word is built from the elements named in its history, so the modern form preserves a visible compound, prefix, or suffix structure.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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pigeonhole

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