steeple C2+ Topic:Architecture & Buildings US /ˈstipəl/ UK /ˈstiːpəl/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a tall tower with a spire on top of a church The village steeple was visible for miles across the fields. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a tall tower with a spire... spiretowerbelfryturretminaret Word family Derived forms steepled Related forms steepsteeplechase Etymology AI details From Old English 'stēpel', a lofty tower, related to 'stēap' (steep, lofty); ultimately from a Germanic base meaning high or projecting. stēpel Old English stēap Old English View etymology graph -> Topics Architecture & Buildings General Vocabulary External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # steeple **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈstipəl/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈstiːpəl/ ## Meanings 1. a tall tower with a spire on top of a church ## Examples - The village steeple was visible for miles across the fields. ## Synonyms - spire - tower - belfry - turret - minaret ## Derived Forms - steepled ## Related Forms - steep - steeplechase ## Roots and Affixes - Root: stēpel - Root: stēap ## Etymology From Old English 'stēpel', a lofty tower, related to 'stēap' (steep, lofty); ultimately from a Germanic base meaning high or projecting. ## AI Etymology Steeple comes from Old English 'stēpel', a lofty tower, related to 'stēap' (steep, lofty); ultimately from a Germanic base meaning high or projecting. The historical chain includes Old English stēpel and Old English stēap. The quoted older senses, "stēpel" and "stēap", supply the semantic anchors for steeple. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word steeple carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "a tall tower with a spire on top of a church". English derivatives include steepled; related English forms include steep and steeplechase. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization. ## Topics - Architecture & Buildings - General Vocabulary markdown