staple

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A basic, essential food or item that people use regularly.

   Rice is a staple in the diet of many cultures.

2. 2
   adj

   Forming a basic or main part of something, especially food or trade.

   Wheat is a staple crop in this region.

3. 3
   verb

   To fasten papers together with a small metal clip.

   Please staple the pages together before you hand them in.

4. 4
   noun

   A regular or recurring feature.

   Cooking competitions have become a staple of evening television.

From Middle English stapel (“staple, pillar, post”), from Old English stapol (“post, pillar”), from Proto-West Germanic *stapul, from Proto-Germanic *stapulaz, from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (“post, stem”). See also Old English steppan (“to step”) and Old French estaple (“post”). Consider also stapes (“stirrup”), from Latin. Doublet of étape and etymology 1.

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