staple

English

/ˈsteɪ.pəl/

noun
Definitions
  • (now) A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group.
  • (by extension) Place of supply; source.
  • The principal commodity produced in a town or region.
  • A basic or essential supply.
  • A recurring topic or character.
  • Short fiber, as of cotton, sheep’s wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread.
  • Unmanufactured material; raw material.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English staple derived from estaple derived from Old French estaple (post, marketplace, a place where merchants bring their wares to be sold, warehouse, market) derived from Latin stapula derived from Middle Dutch stapel (market, pillar, warehouse, foundation) derived from Proto-Germanic *stapulaz (post, pillar, foundation, basis) derived from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (stem, post, stiffen).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*stebʰ-

Gloss

stem, post, stiffen

Concept
Semantic Field

The house

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

茎

Emoji
✉️ 🏣 🏤 📤️ 📥️ 📦️ 📩 📪️ 📫️ 📮 📯

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms