stell

See also: stëll and Stell

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English stellen, from Old English stellan (“to give a place to, set, place”), from Proto-West Germanic *stalljan (“to put, position”), from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, put, post, stand”). Cognate with Dutch stellen (“to set, put”), Low German stellen (“to put, place, fix”), German stellen (“to set, place, provide”), Old English steall (“position, place”). More at stall.

Verb

stell (third-person singular simple present stells, present participle stelling, simple past and past participle stelled or stold)

1. (transitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To place in position; set up, fix, plant; prop, mount.
2. (transitive, dialectal or obsolete) To portray; delineate; display.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, 1443–44:

     To this well-painted piece is Lucrece come,

     To find a face where all distress is stelled.

   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 24:

     Mine eye hath play'd the painter and hath stell'd

     Thy beauty's form in table of my heart ...

Etymology 2

Alteration of stall, after the verb to stell.

Noun

stell (plural stells)

1. (archaic) A place; station.
2. A stall; a fold for cattle.
3. (Scotland) A prop; a support, as for the feet in standing or climbing.
4. (Scotland) A still.
   • 1786, Robert Burns, "The Author's Earnest Cry And Prayer":

     Paint Scotland greetin owre her thrissle;

     Her mutchkin stowp as toom's a whissle;

     An' damn'd excisemen in a bussle,

     Seizin a stell,

     Triumphant crushin't like a mussel,

     Or limpet shell!

   • 1791, Robert Burns, "Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation":

     The English stell we could disdain,

     Secure in valour's station;

     But English gold has been our bane-

     Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

Related terms

• stall

Anagrams

• Tells, tells

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German

Verb

stell

1. (deprecated template usage) Imperative singular of stellen.

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Icelandic

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Danish stel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɛlː/
• Rhymes: -ɛlː

Noun

stell n (genitive singular stells, nominative plural stell)

1. service (set of matching dishes or untensils)
2. set of false teeth

Declension

declension of stell

n-s	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	stell	stellið	stell	stellin
accusative	stell	stellið	stell	stellin
dative	stelli	stellinu	stellum	stellunum
genitive	stells	stellsins	stella	stellanna

Etymology 2

Back-formation from stella (“to potter about, to tinker”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɛtl/
• Rhymes: -ɛtl

Noun

stell n (genitive singular stells, no plural)

1. pottering, tinkering, idle work

   Synonyms: föndur, bauk, dund, dútl

Declension

declension of stell

n-s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	stell	stellið
accusative	stell	stellið
dative	stelli	stellinu
genitive	stells	stellsins