storey

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A floor or level of a building or ship.
  2. A vertical level in certain letters, such as a and g.
  3. A building; an edifice.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Madera County, California, United States.

Pronunciation

/ˈstɔː.ɹɪ/ /ˈstɔː.ɹi/ /ˈstɔɹ.i/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sapaa-storey.wav

Word forms

storey storeys stories story

Etymology

From Middle English story, via Medieval Latin historia (“narrative, illustraton, frieze”) from Ancient Greek ἱστορίᾱ (historíā, “learning through research”). The current sense arose from narrative friezes on upper levels of medieval buildings, esp. churches. Doublet of story and history. An alternative etymology derives Middle English story from Old French *estoree (“a thing built, building”), from estoree (“built”), feminine past participle of estorer (“to build”), from Latin instaurare (“to construct, build, erect”), but this seems unlikely since historia already had the meaning "storey of a building" in Anglo-Latin.

Synonyms

Related words

Storey in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
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