staple

C1 Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈsteɪpəl/ UK /ˈsteɪ.pəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #18580

Meanings

1

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

Rice is a staple in the diet of many cultures.
2

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

Wheat is a staple crop in this region.
3

verb
To fasten papers together with a small metal clip.

Please staple the pages together before you hand them in.
4

noun
A regular or recurring feature.

Cooking competitions have become a staple of evening television.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms stapledstaplesstapling

Derived forms misstaplenonstaplepipe-staplestaplelessstaplelike

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

staple gun
a handheld tool that drives staples into a surface

Noun + noun

Etymology

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.

stapel Middle English stapol Old English *stapul Proto-West Germanic *stapulaz Proto-Germanic *stebʰ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# staple

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈsteɪpəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsteɪ.pəl/
**Frequency rank:** 18580

## Meanings
1. A basic, essential food or item that people use regularly.
2. Forming a basic or main part of something, especially food or trade.
3. To fasten papers together with a small metal clip.
4. A regular or recurring feature.

## Examples
- Rice is a staple in the diet of many cultures.
- Wheat is a staple crop in this region.
- Please staple the pages together before you hand them in.
- Cooking competitions have become a staple of evening television.

## Derived Forms
- misstaple
- nonstaple
- pipe-staple
- stapleless
- staplelike

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: stapel
- Root: stapol
- Root: *stapul
- Root: *stapulaz
- Root: *stebʰ-

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Staple is 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. In present-day use, it can mean a basic, essential food or item that people use regularly, or forming a basic or main part of something, especially food or trade. Derived formations include misstaple, nonstaple, pipe-staple, stapleless, and staplelike.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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