Forms: 1 stépel, stípel, stýpel, 2–5 stepel, 4–5 stepyl, 4–7 steple, 5 steepill, stepil, -yll(e, -ul, styple, styppyl, 5–6 stepell, -ull(e, 5–7 stepill, 6 steaple, steepil, stepelle, stypell, Sc. steipell, -il(l, steiple, 6–7 stiple, 7 Sc. steippell, 6– steeple. [OE. stépel, stýpel masc.:—prehist. *staupil, f. *staup- STEEP a.]
† I. 1. A tall tower; a building of great altitude in proportion to its length and breadth. Obs.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxi. 23. [He] ʓetimbrode anne stypel [L. turrim ædificavit].
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. xi. 5. Þæt he ʓesawe … þone stipel, þe Adames bearn ʓetimbrodon.
10[?]. Lambeth Ps. lx. 4. Turris fortitudinis, Stepel stræncðe.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 93. Eontas walden areran ane buruh and anne stepel swa hehne, þet [etc.].
c. 1290. St. Michael, 539, in S. Eng. Leg., 315. Ȝif here were an heiȝ stepel; and a man a-boue sete.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 3040. Stone [s]tepelles fulle styffe in þe strete ligges.
a. 1660. Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.), I. 60. An ould almost ruyned stiple extant in the ruynes of the said nunry temple.
1847. W. Reeves, Eccl. Antiq., 63, note. The noble Round Tower, commonly called the Steeple [near Antrim].
2. A lofty tower forming part of a church, temple, or other public edifice (often serving to contain the bells); such a tower together with the spire or other superstructure by which it is surmounted.
1154. O. E. Chron. (C.), an. 1036. Hine man byriʓde … æt þam west-ende þam styple ful ʓehende.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 10860. In to þe stepel of oseneye þe legat fleu vor fere.
c. 1325. Lai le Freine, 152. A chirche, with stepel fair and heighe.
1387. Charters, etc. Edin. (1871), 35. The grete pyler of the stepyl.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 148/2. Fane of a stepylle, or oþer lyke, cherucus.
c. 1481. Caxton, Dialogues, 40. Lamfroy, the couerar of tyles Couerd the steple [Fr. couury le belfroy].
1553. in Daniel-Tyssen, Invent. Ch. Goods Surrey (1869), 107. Item in the stypell ij belles and a littell bell.
1561. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer, II. (1577), M vij b. A place where was a steeple that stood by himselfe alone seuered from the Church.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., II. i. 142. Inuisible, As a nose on a man’s face, or a Wethercocke on a steeple.
c. 1605. Acc. Bk. W. Wray, in Antiquary, XXXII. 212. This yeare [1593] … was the great spere of St. Wilfrides steple … sett on fire.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit. (1637), 505. Thirty Steeples with Spires or square Towres within view at once.
1625. Peebles Charters, etc. (1872), 414. Gewine to John Frank for schiwting of the tua goineis in the steippell.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 155. When they [Persians] heare the Boy cry aloud vpon the Steeple, they fall to prayer.
a. 1701. Maundrell, Journ. Jerus. (1721), 122. It is thick set with Mosques and Steeples, the usual ornaments of the Turkish Cities.
1765. Sterne, Tr. Shandy, VII. v. The steeple, which has a spire to it, is placed in the middle of the church.
1795. Burns, Song, ‘Does haughty Gaul,’ iv. Who will not sing, ‘God save the King,’ Shall hang as high’s the steeple.
1812. Edm. Turnor, MS. Let., An Elevation of the west end of Great Ponton Church, to show the steeple. [Here a square tower.]
1842. Gwilt, Archit., Gloss., 1037. Steeple, a lofty erection attached to a church, chiefly intended to contain its bells. The word … applies to every appendage of this nature, whether tower or spire, or a combination of the two.
1852. Hook, Ch. Dict. (1871), 725. A steeple is the tower of a Church with all its appendages, as turret, octagon, and spire. It is often incorrectly confounded with the spire.
† b. Used by metonymy for church. In nonce-phrases: The sign of the steeple (referring to monastic hospitality); bigamy of steeples, plurality of church livings. Obs.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 54. Sence the signe of the steeple, the poore mans Inne was pulled downe in all places.
1641. R. Wild, in Roxb. Ballads (1888), VI. 456. Bigamy of Steeples is no laughing matter.
† c. To hunt the steeple: see quot. Obs.
1785. Edin. Advertiser, 15 April, 236. His Lordship and another gentleman determined to hunt the steeple. This is a common amusement among people of fashion, and consists in the horsemen riding helter skelter towards the first steeple that may catch their eye, and he that is first in is the best man.
3. A spire on the top of the tower or roof of a church or similar edifice. Also, more definitely, spire steeple, broach steeple.
1473–4. in Swayne, Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896), 15. The castyng and laying iiixx xvc of new and olde Led to the steple.
1548. Elyot’s Dict., Pyramis,… a stiple.
1551. Turner, Herbal, I. N iij b. The tre … hath the figure of a steple, that is great beneth, and the hygher vp the smaller it is.
1578. Banister, Hist. Man, VII. 93. The figure of this [right] auricle is like a poynted steeple pillour or other buildyng, whose brodest part is the bottome.
1582. Batman, Barth. De P. R., III. xvii. 18 b. Out of the eye commeth a small appearaunce, that is shapen as a steeple or a top.
1595. Duncan, App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Pyramis, a steiple or lyk building.
1607. Walkington, Opt. Glass, 41. His head was made like a broch steeple, sharpe.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit. (1637), 425. A mighty bigge and lofty Towre, upon which stood a Spire Steeple covered with Leade.
1766. Entick, London, IV. 283. The steeple is a spire…, raised upon a solid … tower.
1780[?]. Cowper, Transl. Bourne, Jackdaw, 7. Above the steeple shines a plate, That turns and turns, to indicate From what point blows the weather.
1872. De Vere, Americanisms, 233. With the Yankee, the meeting-house with its steeple—the word ‘spire’ is hardly ever heard in America—has found its way to every part of the Union.
1896. Swayne, Sarum Churchw. Acc., p. xxvi. There were battlements with a gutter and spout at the top of the tower, and above rose the steeple.
b. In wider sense (see quots.).
1876. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, I. 131. Any building above the roof may be called a steeple.
1823. J. F. Cooper, Pioneers, viii. The ‘steeple’ was a little cupola, reared on the very centre of the roof.
† 4. A steeple-shaped ornament on the cover of a censer or other vessel. Obs.
1517. Archæologia, LXI. 87. A sencer of silver the stepull and the swages gilt.
II. attrib. and Comb.
5. Obvious combinations: a. simple attributive, as steeple battlement, -bell, -chime, -clock, -door, -height, -spire, -stairs, -tower, -vane, window, work. b. objective, as steeple-climbing, -keeper; also steeple-loving adj. c. similative, as steeple-form, -high, -like, -shaped adjs.; also in designations of headgear having a ‘steeple-crown’ (see 6), as steeple-cap, hat, head-dress, headgear, tire. d. instrumental, as steeple-shadowed, -studded adjs.
1525–6. Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905), 332. Paid to a Mason, for a day, to mende þe *steple batilment, viij d.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. VI. vi. So go the *steeple-bells.
1642. H. More, Song of Soul, I. i. 25. By stealth her *steeple-cap she [sc. Night] doth assay To whelm on th’ earth.
a. 1821. Keats, Song of Opposites, 11. Funeral and *steeple-chime.
1830. Carlyle, Richter Again, Ess. 1840, II. 372. The down-rolling wheels of the *steeple-clock, which was striking eleven, had awakened me.
1483. in C. Welch, Churchw. Acc. All-hallows, Lond. Wall (1912), 25. Payed for a lokke and a key to the *Stepill dor, iiijd.
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., I. Defin. C j. Or els it is called a rounde spire, or *stiple fourme.
1629. Gaule, Holy Madn., 329. His *steeple Hat hath harboured many a Thousand.
1841. T. H. White, Fragm. Italy & Rhineland, 2. The noble countenance of the Spaniard, shadowed by his black steeple hat.
1877. Encycl. Brit., VI. 470. Fig. 39 *‘Steeple’ Head-dress.
1655. Marq. Worcester, Cent. Inv., § 24. To shoot … an hundred pound weight a *Steeple-height.
1633. T. Nash, Quaternio, 35. Being mounted aloft, *steeple-high.
1692. [see SQUAB adv.].
1663. Gerbier, Counsel, 11. And *Steeple-like to hang Bells in.
1800. Hurdis, Fav. Village, Homeward returns the *steeple-loving daw.
1896. A. E. Housman, Shropshire Lad, lxi. And *steeple-shadowed slumber The slayers of themselves.
1859. W. S. Coleman, Our Woodlands, 34. [Form of fir-trees.] Conical or *steeple-shaped.
1664. Cotton, Scarron., IV. 103. And if I ever do forget ye,… Let me be hang’d as high, or higher Then top of Carthage *Steeple Spire.
1817. Coleridge, Biog. Lit., Satyrane’s Lett., i. II. 202. A profusion of steeple-spires.
1559–60. Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden), 97. Paid for the makynge clene of the *stepulle steyrez, iiij d.
1886. A. G. Butler, in Harold, etc. (1892), 151. The ghost-like city, *steeple-studded, Slumbering grey in a mist of green.
1603–26. Breton, Poste Mad Lett. (Grosart), 41/1. For your *steeple tire, it is like the gaud of a Maid-Marion.
c. 1842. Wordsw., Eccl. Sonn., III. xvii. Her Spires, her *Steeple-towers with glittering vanes.
1845. Hirst, Poems, 71. The roofs, the spires, the *steeple-vanes Seemed swimming in the silver mist.
1512. in Archæologia, XLVI. 202. Paid for the frethyng of the *Stepyll wyndows iiij d.
1426. E. E. Wills (1882), 76. Also I bequeth to þe *stepul werk of seint Alpheies by Crepulgate, x mark.
6. Special comb.: steeple-clocked a., having steeple-shaped clocks (CLOCK sb.2 1); † steeple cream Confectionery, a cream (CREAM sb.1 2) fashioned into a form pointed at the top; steeple-crown, a crown of a hat rising to a point in the middle; also a hat with a steeple-crown; hence steeple-crowned adj.; steeple-cup (see quot.); steeple engine, a kind of steam-engine used on river boats (see quot. 1873); † steeple head, the top of a tower or steeple; steeple-hoofed a., having the hoof too upright; † steeple hunt, hunter, -hunting = STEEPLECHASE sb., -CHASER, -CHASING; steeple jack, a man who climbs steeples or tall chimneys to repair them; † steeple-mo(u)lded a., (of a hat) steeple-shaped; † vsteeple-music = bell-ringing; steeple race, racing, = STEEPLECHASE, -CHASING; steeple-roofed a., having very high roofs; † steeple running = STEEPLECHASING; steeple sugar-loaf, a sugar-loaf shaped like a steeple; steeple-top, (a) the top of a steeple; (b) the bowhead, or great polar whale (Balæna mysticetus), so called from the spout-holes terminating in a sort of cone (Cent. Dict., 1891).
1776. Anstey, Election Ballads (1808), 229. With a shoe like a sauce boat and *steeple-clock’d hose.
1747. Mrs. Glasse, Cookery, 143. To make *Steeple Cream.
1769. Mrs. Raffald, Eng. Housekpr. (1778), 231. They are pretty with either steeple cream, any kind of flummeries, or [etc.].
1684. Roxb. Ballads (1891), VII. 475. There came up a Lass from a Country Town … In *steeple-crown Hat.
1706. [E. Ward], Hudibras Rediv., VIII. (Nares).
| The good old Dames, among the rest, | |
| Were all most primitively drest | |
| In stiffen-body’d Russet Gowns, | |
| And on their Heads old Steeple Crowns. |
1710. Tatler, No. 257, ¶ 3. The most remarkable Parts of her Dress, were the Beaver with the Steeple Crown, [etc.].
1804. Europ. Mag., XLV. 411/1. *Steeple-crowned hats.
1900. Crockett, Love Idylls (1901), 33. An ancient steeple-crowned Puritan hat.
1909. Century Dict., *Steeple-cup, a silver standing cup having on its cover a pyramidal, steeple-like crest.
1839. R. S. Robinson, Naut. Steam Eng., 177. This engine, common on the Clyde, is called a *steeple engine, but it is unfitted for the open sea.
1873. G. E. Webster, Steam Eng. & Steam, II. 187. Steeple Engines derive their name from the high erections on deck required by the guide to the connecting-rod which works the crank.
1572. Diurn. Occur. Scot. (Bannatyne Club), 307. The haill artailȝerie in Edinburgh, about the wallis, on the *steipill heid of Sanctgeill and Kirk of feild, wer tane to the castell of Edinburgh.
1823. Pursglove, Pract. Farriery, 226. It will give great relief to the animal if his heels are lowered as much as possible, to prevent him from being what is termed *steeple-hoofed.
1831. Youatt, Horse, iv. 57. The *Steeple Hunt is a relic of ancient foolhardiness and cruelty.
1830. Examiner, 531/1. She bolts at the object of her aim with the ardour of a *steeple hunter.
1772. Gilpin, Observ. Picturesque Beauty (1786), II. 251. *Steeple-hunting.
1851. Carlyle, Sterling, I. v. 53. I have known few creatures whom it was more wasteful … to set to steeple-hunting, instead of running on highways!
1881. Instr. Census Clerks (1885), 52. Builder … *Steeple Jack.
1894. Bye-gones, 14 Feb., 277/1. For some time past steeplejacks have been engaged in repairing the spire.
1710. Pict. of Malice, 8. The good Women of Derbyshire … ought to appear in the Churches with their *Steeple-mol’d Hats, and lay aside their Hats of Straw.
1732. Tricks of Town, 33. He had not only paid the three Guineas for the *Steeple-Musick, but had lent him ten Guineas more out of his Pocket for pretended Exigencies.
1809. Sporting Mag., XXXIII. 187. A match … to ride a *steeple race.
1840. Blaine, Encycl. Rural Sports, § 1280. The popularity of *steeple racing from this time increased.
c. 1870. Browning, Miniature, 2. In the bright Touraine, In a high-turreted, *steeple-roofed town.
1818. ‘W. H. Scott,’ Brit. Field Sports, 299. In *Steeple Running and matching their Horses to run Train-Scents.
1649. Dk. Newcastle, Country Capt., I. i. 4. No *steeple sugar-loaues to sweeten his Neighbours at Christmas.
c. 1440. Alphabet of Tales, 497. Þe clerk saw þe preste bodie oft sithis born vp to þe *steple topp with strenth of fendis.
1805. Southey, Madoc, I. xv. David would hang thee on thy steeple top.
b. In names of plants: steeple bells, steeple bell-flower, Campanula pyramidalis; steeple-bush = HARDHACK.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. cxi. 366. Of Peach bels, and *Steeple bels. Ibid., 367. fig. 2 Campanula lactescens pyramidalis Steeple milkie Bell flower.
1611. Cotgr., Campanette,… the Peach-bell, or Steeple-bell flower.
1812. New Bot. Gard., I. 121. The plants of the steeple bell-flower.
1847. Darlington, Amer. Weeds, 120. Spirea tomentosa … Hardhack. *Steeple Bush.
