steeple

name

1. A hamlet in Steeple with Tyneham parish, Dorset, England, previously in Purbeck district (OS grid ref SY9181).
2. A village and civil parish in Maldon district, Essex, England (OS grid ref TL9303).

noun

Etymology: From Middle English stepel, from Old English stīpel, stȳpel, stīepel (“tower, steeple”), from Proto-West Germanic *staupil, from Proto-Germanic *staupilaz (“that which is steep, tower, steeple”), equivalent to steep + -le. Cognate with Old Norse stǫpull (“tower, steeple”).

1. A tall tower, often on a church, normally topped with a spire.

   “Above the session-room of the Council is the steeple, and in the steeple is the belfry, where exists, and has existed time out of mind, the pride and wonder of the village—the great clock of the borough of Vondervotteimittiss.”

   “So, the woman and the child had gone by, and gone on, and five had sounded from the steeples.”

2. A spire.
3. A high headdress of the 14th century.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English stepel, from Old English stīpel, stȳpel, stīepel (“tower, steeple”), from Proto-West Germanic *staupil, from Proto-Germanic *staupilaz (“that which is steep, tower, steeple”), equivalent to steep + -le. Cognate with Old Norse stǫpull (“tower, steeple”).

1. To form something into the shape of a steeple.

   “He steepled his fingers as he considered the question.”

   “Mr. Ziegler is now angled forward with his elbows on his knees and his fingers steepled just under his nose.”