tower

A2 Topic:Architecture & Buildings

US /ˈtaʊɚ/ UK /ˈtaʊ.ə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #2411

Meanings

1

noun
A tall, narrow structure, either standing alone or part of a building.

We climbed the church tower to see the view.
2

verb
To be very tall, especially compared to things nearby.

The new office block towers over the old houses.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

donjon

Word family

Forms toweredtoweringtowers

Derived forms belltowerclocktowergate-towerivory-towerminitowern-towersummer-towertower-milltowermanwall-towerwatch-towerwatchtower

Related forms mast

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

observation tower
a tall structure built to provide a wide view of the surrounding area

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Tower has been used in English since the Old English period and comes from Latin turris and French tour. Turret entered English in the Middle English period from Old French tourete, meaning “little tower.”

Etymology

From Middle English tour, tur, tor, from Old English tūr, tor, torr ("tower; rock"; > English tor) and Old French tour, toer, tor; both from Latin turris (“a tower”), Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) (Hesychius), τύρσις (túrsis). Compare Scots tour, towr, towre (“tower”), West Frisian toer (“tower”), Dutch toren (“tower”), German Turm (“tower”), Danish tårn (“tower”), Swedish torn (“tower”), Icelandic turn (“tower”), Welsh tŵr. Doublet of tor, tourelle, and turret.

tour Middle English tūr Old English turris Latin τύρρις Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Architecture & Buildings Tools, Machines & Construction

External links

# tower

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈtaʊɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtaʊ.ə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 2411

## Meanings
1. A tall, narrow structure, either standing alone or part of a building.
2. To be very tall, especially compared to things nearby.

## Examples
- We climbed the church tower to see the view.
- The new office block towers over the old houses.

## Synonyms
- donjon

## Derived Forms
- belltower
- clocktower
- gate-tower
- ivory-tower
- minitower
- n-tower
- summer-tower
- tower-mill
- towerman
- wall-tower
- watch-tower
- watchtower

## Related Forms
- mast

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tour
- Root: tūr
- Root: turris
- Root: τύρρις

## Etymology
From Middle English tour, tur, tor, from Old English tūr, tor, torr ("tower; rock"; > English tor) and Old French tour, toer, tor; both from Latin turris (“a tower”), Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) (Hesychius), τύρσις (túrsis). Compare Scots tour, towr, towre (“tower”), West Frisian toer (“tower”), Dutch toren (“tower”), German Turm (“tower”), Danish tårn (“tower”), Swedish torn (“tower”), Icelandic turn (“tower”), Welsh tŵr. Doublet of tor, tourelle, and turret.

## AI Etymology
Tower is from Middle English tour, tur, tor, from Old English tūr, tor, torr ("tower; rock"; > English tor) and Old French tour, toer, tor; both from Latin turris (“a tower”), Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) (Hesychius), τύρσις (túrsis). Compare Scots tour, towr, towre (“tower”), West Frisian toer (“tower”), Dutch toren (“tower”), German Turm (“tower”), Danish tårn (“tower”), Swedish torn (“tower”), Icelandic turn (“tower”), Welsh tŵr. Doublet of tor, tourelle, and turret. Derived formations include belltower, clocktower, gate-tower, ivory-tower, minitower, n-tower, summer-tower, tower-mill.

## Topics
- Architecture & Buildings
- Tools, Machines & Construction

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