# stair

Pronunciation: say "STAIR" US /stɛɚ/, UK /stɛə/, AUS /steː/

## Noun

1. A series of steps leading from one level of a building to another; a staircase.
   - Simple: A set of steps that lets you walk up or down between floors of a building.
   - _A narrow stair led up to the cramped attic room._
   - _She climbed the stairs two at a time to answer the door._
2. A single one of the steps that together make up a staircase.
   - Simple: One of the flat parts you put your foot on when climbing up or down.
   - _The bottom stair had worn smooth after decades of use._
   - _She left a candle burning on the third stair while she searched upstairs._

## Origin

From Middle English steire, from Old English stǣġer ("stair, staircase"), going back through Proto-Germanic *staigriz ("stairs, scaffolding") to a Proto-Indo-European root *steygʰ- ("to walk, climb"). It is related to Dutch steiger and German Stiege ("a flight of stairs").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stair (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).