Dictionary

staithe en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /steɪð/ (UK)
• /steɪθ/ (UK)

Etymology

From Old English stæþ and/or Old Norse stöð (“harbor”).

Meanings

1. (UK, obsolete) A riverbank
2. (UK, archaic, dialectal) A fixed structure where ships land, especially to load and unload; wharf; landing stage.
   • Trevithick's first use of steam traction on rail took place at Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire, on a tramroad 9¾ miles long between the Penydarren ironworks of Samuel Homfray, and the staithes at Abercynon, where the worked iron was loaded into barges on the Glamorganshire Canal. 1951 March, E. W. Twining, “The First Railway Locomotive”, in Railway Magazine, page 197:
3. (UK) An installation built at the railside or nearby for the storage of coal unloaded from wagons.

Forms

Synonyms

wharf