Definition/Meaning of sty

• English - Noun: sty (plural sties) A pen or enclosure for swine . 2026, Gordon Korman, Hypergifted, page 24: "That's the sty , obviously," the dean replied impatiently.[...]"You have a sty ?" I persisted. "Like for pigs?" (figuratively) A messy , dirty or debauched place. 1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […]…
• English - Verb: sty (third-person singular simple present sties, present participle stying, simple past and past participle stied) (transitive) To place in, or as if in, a sty. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]: and…
• English - Etymology: Etymology 1. From Middle English sty , from Old English stī , stiġ (“sty, pen, a wooden enclosure; hall”, chiefly in compounds), from Proto-West Germanic *stī, from Proto-Germanic *stiją. Cognate with German Stiege (“wooden crate”), dialectal German Steige (“hen-coop”), Danish sti (“sty, enclosure for swine, sheep, hens, etc.”), Swedish stia (“sty for pigs, geese, etc.”), Norwegian sti (“flock…
• English - Pronunciation: IPA: /staɪ/ Rhymes: -aɪ Homophone: stye Homophone: stye Homophone: stye Homophone: stye Homophone: stye
• English - Synonyms: pigpen pigsty hovel