Standard Lemma guide

staircase

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈstɛɹˌkeɪs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S T EH1 R K EY2 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A flight of stairs; a stairway.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A connected set of flights of stairs; a stairwell.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A set of locks (enclosed sections of waterway) mounted one above the next.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To modify (a signal, a graph, etc.) to reduce a smooth curve to a series of discrete steps.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To increase one's share in a co-ownership.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, real-estate

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

a way of access (upward and downward) consisting of a set of steps

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: stairway

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: way

Narrower terms: backstairs, companionway, escalator, moving staircase, moving stairway, fire escape, emergency exit, flight, flight of stairs, flight of steps, ghat, stairs, steps, ramp

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *steygh- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *stéygheti Proto-Germanic *stīganą Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *staigijaną Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Germanic *-raz Proto-Germanic *staigraz Proto-Germanic *staigriz Proto-West Germanic *staigri Old English stǣġer Middle English steire English stair English case English staircase From stair + case.

Across languages

Translations

116 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: trappe — stairway
  • Albanian: shkallë — stairway
  • Southern Altai: баскыш (baskïš) — stairway
  • Southern Altai: тепкиш (tepkiš) — stairway
  • Arabic: بَيْت اَلدَّرَج (bayt ad-daraj) — stairway
  • Arabic: دَرَج (daraj) — stairway
  • Arabic: سُلَّم (sullam) — stairway
  • Arabic: بير السلم (biir esselem) — stairway
  • Arabic: سلم (selem) — stairway
  • Armenian: սանդուղք (sanduġkʻ) — stairway
  • Assamese: খটখটী (khotkhoti) — stairway
  • Azerbaijani: pilləkən — stairway
  • Bashkir: баҫҡыс (baśqıs) — stairway
  • Belarusian: ле́свіца (ljésvica) — stairway
  • Belarusian: схо́ды (sxódy) — stairway
  • Belarusian: усхо́ды (usxódy) — stairway
  • Belarusian: ўсхо́ды (wsxódy) — stairway
  • Bengali: সোপান (śōpan) — stairway
  • Bulgarian: стълбище (stǎlbište) — stairway
  • Burmese: လှေကား (hleka:) — stairway
  • Catalan: escala — stairway
  • Chinese Cantonese: 樓梯 /楼梯 (lau4 tai1) — stairway
  • Chinese Mandarin: 樓梯 /楼梯 (lóutī) — stairway
  • Czech: schodiště — stairway
  • Czech: schody — stairway
  • Danish: trappe — stairway
  • Dutch: trap — stairway
  • Egyptian: r-w-d-O40 (rwd) — stairway
  • Esperanto: ŝtuparo — stairway
  • Estonian: trepp — stairway
  • Finnish: portaat — stairway
  • Finnish: portaikko — stairway
  • French: escalier — stairway
  • Georgian: კიბე (ḳibe) — stairway
  • German: Stiege — stairway
  • German: Treppe — stairway
  • Greek: κλιμακοστάσιο (klimakostásio) — stairway
  • Greek: σκάλα (skála) — stairway
  • Gujarati: દાદરો (dādro) — stairway
  • Gujarati: જીનો (jīno) — stairway
  • Gujarati: સોપાન (sopān) — stairway
  • Hebrew: מַדְרֵגוֹת (madregót) — stairway
  • Hindi: सीढ़ी (sīṛhī) — stairway
  • Hindi: सोपान (sopān) — stairway
  • Hungarian: lépcsőház — stairway
  • Icelandic: stigi — stairway
  • Ido: eskalero — stairway
  • Interlingua: scala — stairway
  • Italian: scalinata — stairway
  • Italian: tromba delle scale — stairway
  • Japanese: 階段 (kaidan) — stairway
  • Japanese: 階 (kizahashi) — stairway
  • Kazakh: саты (saty) — stairway
  • Kazakh: басқыш (basqyş) — stairway
  • Khmer: ជណ្ដើរ (cɔɔcŭəndaə) — stairway
  • Korean: 계단 (gyedan) — stairway
  • Kyrgyz: шаты (şatı) — stairway
  • Kyrgyz: баскыч (baskıc) — stairway
  • Kyrgyz: тепкич (tepkic) — stairway
  • Lao: ກະໄດ (ka dai) — stairway
  • Lao: ບັນໄດ (ban dai) — stairway
  • Lao: ຂັ້ນໄດ — stairway
  • Latin: scalaria — stairway
  • Latvian: kāpnes — stairway
  • Lithuanian: laiptinė — stairway
  • Lithuanian: laiptai — stairway
  • Luxembourgish: Trap — stairway
  • Macedonian: ска́лиште (skálište) — stairway
  • Māori: arakaupae — stairway
  • Mongolian: шат (šat) — stairway
  • Nahuatl: tlamamatlatl — stairway
  • Nepali: भर्याङ (bharyāṅ) — stairway
  • Norman: montée — stairway
  • Norman: d'gré — stairway
  • Norman: êcalyi — stairway
  • Norwegian Bokmål: trapp — stairway
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: trapp — stairway
  • Persian: پلکان (pellekân) — stairway
  • Polish: schody — stairway
  • Polish: klatka schodowa — stairway
  • Portuguese: escadaria — stairway
  • Romanian: scară — stairway
  • Romanian: casa scării — stairway
  • Russian: ле́стница (léstnica) — stairway
  • Russian: ле́стничная кле́тка (léstničnaja klétka) — stairway
  • Scottish Gaelic: staidhre — stairway
  • Serbo-Croatian: степениште — stairway
  • Serbo-Croatian: стубиште — stairway
  • Serbo-Croatian: stepenište — stairway
  • Serbo-Croatian: stubište — stairway
  • Slovak: schodisko — stairway
  • Slovene: stopnišče — stairway
  • Sotho: ditepisi — stairway
  • Spanish: escalera — stairway
  • Spanish: gradas — stairway
  • Spanish: escalinata — stairway
  • Spanish: escalera fija — stairway
  • Swedish: trappa — stairway
  • Tagalog: hagdanan — stairway
  • Tajik: зинапоя (zinapoya) — stairway
  • Tajik: нардбон (nardbon) — stairway
  • Tamil: மாடிப்படி (māṭippaṭi) — stairway
  • Lower Tanana: xonotr'ededek xw — stairway
  • Thai: กระได (grà-dai) — stairway
  • Thai: บันได (ban-dai) — stairway
  • Turkish: merdiven — stairway
  • Ottoman Turkish: نردبان (nerdiban) — stairway
  • Ukrainian: схо́ди (sxódy) — stairway
  • Ukrainian: сходо́ва клі́тка (sxodóva klítka) — stairway
  • Urdu: سیڑھی (sīṛhī) — stairway
  • Uyghur: پەلەمپەي (pelempey) — stairway
  • Uzbek: narvon — stairway
  • Uzbek: shoti — stairway
  • Uzbek: zina — stairway
  • Uzbek: zinapoya — stairway
  • Vietnamese: cầu thang — stairway
Real reading context

staircase in complete knowledge articles