Link Centre Dictionary

style

UK/staɪ.əl/ US/staɪl/ common formal informal slang us
noun (9) verb (3)

noun

1.

a particular kind (as to appearance)

  • “this style of shoe is in demand”
2.

how something is done or how it happens

  • “her dignified manner”
  • “his rapid manner of talking”
  • “their nomadic mode of existence”
  • “in the characteristic New York style”
  • “a lonely way of life”
  • “in an abrasive fashion”
Synonyms
3.

a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period

  • “all the reporters were expected to adopt the style of the newspaper”
Synonyms
4.

distinctive and stylish elegance

  • “he wooed her with the confident dash of a cavalry officer”
Synonyms
5.

the popular taste at a given time

  • “leather is the latest vogue”
  • “he followed current trends”
  • “the 1920s had a style of their own”
Synonyms
6.

(botany) the narrow elongated part of the pistil between the ovary and the stigma

7.

editorial directions to be followed in spelling and punctuation and capitalization and typographical display

8.

a pointed tool for writing or drawing or engraving

  • “he drew the design on the stencil with a steel stylus”
Synonyms
9.

a slender bristlelike or tubular process

  • “a cartilaginous style”

verb

1.

designate by an identifying term

  • “They styled their nation”
  • “'”
Synonyms
2.

make consistent with a certain fashion or style

  • “Style my hair”
  • “style the dress”
3.

make consistent with certain rules of style

  • “style a manuscript”

Origin

The noun is derived from Middle English stile (“writing tool; piece of written work; characteristic mode of expression; demeanour; person's designation or title; stem of a plant; period of time”) (compare semantic development to по́черк (póčerk, “handwriting, style”)), from Old French estile, or from Medieval Latin stylus, both from Latin stilus (“pointed instrument; writing tool; composition; characteristic mode of expression; stem of a plant”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp; to pierce, prick, puncture, stab; to goad”). Doublet of stylus. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates *Catalan estil (“engraving tool, stylus; gnomon; manner of doing something, style; fashionable skill, grace”) * German Stiel (“handle; stalk”) * Italian stilo (“needle, stylus; fountain pen; beam; gnomon; part of pistil, style”) * Occitan estil * Portuguese estilo (“writing tool, stylus; manner of doing something, style”) * Spanish estilo (“writing tool, stylus; manner of doing something, style; fashionable skill, grace; part of pistil, style”).

Phrases

  • all style and no substance
  • Allman style
  • auricular style
  • bite someone's style
  • CalArts style
  • California-style pizza
  • Carolina style
  • cascading style sheet
  • style it out

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.