From Middle English sty, from Old English stī, stiġ (“sty, pen, a wooden enclosure; hall”, chiefly in compounds), from Proto-West Germanic *stī, from Proto-Germanic *stiją.
Cognate with German Stiege (“wooden crate”), dialectal German Steige (“hen-coop”), Danish sti (“sty, enclosure for swine, sheep, hens, etc.”), Swedish stia (“sty for pigs, geese, etc.”), Norwegian sti (“flock of sheep”), Icelandic stía (“a kennel”).
Meanings
A pen or enclosure for swine.
(figuratively) A messy, dirty or debauched place.
To roll with pleasure in a sensual sty. 1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:
fo stíggjur (enclosure for swine) · sv stia (messy or dirty place) · ro cocină (enclosure for swine) · fr porcherie (enclosure for swine) · da svinesti (messy or dirty place) · lv cūku kūts (messy or dirty place) · pl chlew (enclosure for swine) · sv svinstia (messy or dirty place) · ru свина́рник (enclosure for swine) · nl varkensstal (messy or dirty place) · mi pākorokoro (enclosure for swine) · mk ко́чина (messy or dirty place) · fi läävä (messy or dirty place) · cs chlív (messy or dirty place) · la hara (enclosure for swine) · mk ко́чина (enclosure for swine) · sv stia (enclosure for swine) · ja 豚小屋 (enclosure for swine) · es pocilga (enclosure for swine) · sh svinjac (enclosure for swine) · fi sikolätti (messy or dirty place) · pt chiqueiro (enclosure for swine) · pt pocilga (enclosure for swine) · da sti (enclosure for swine) · pt chiqueiro (messy or dirty place) · cs chlívek (enclosure for swine) · fi sikolätti (enclosure for swine) · pl chlew (messy or dirty place) · it porcile (enclosure for swine) · mk сви́њарник (enclosure for swine) · bg кочина (messy or dirty place) · sv svinstia (enclosure for swine) · ga cró muice (enclosure for swine) · lv cūkkūts (messy or dirty place) · hu disznóól (enclosure for swine) · ja 豚小屋 (messy or dirty place) · mk сви́њарник (messy or dirty place) · sk krmník (enclosure for swine) · fr porcherie (messy or dirty place) · ru хлев (enclosure for swine) · mi rāihe (enclosure for swine) · lv cūkkūts (enclosure for swine) · sh svinjac (messy or dirty place) · lv cūku kūts (enclosure for swine) · ota طوڭوزلق (enclosure for swine) · da svinesti (enclosure for swine) · bg кочина (enclosure for swine) · ga cró muc (enclosure for swine) · mi pākoro (enclosure for swine) · hu disznóól (messy or dirty place) · nl varkensstal (enclosure for swine) · ja 豚舎 (enclosure for swine) · ru свина́рник (messy or dirty place)
From Middle English sty, from Old English stī, stiġ (“sty, pen, a wooden enclosure; hall”, chiefly in compounds), from Proto-West Germanic *stī, from Proto-Germanic *stiją.
Cognate with German Stiege (“wooden crate”), dialectal German Steige (“hen-coop”), Danish sti (“sty, enclosure for swine, sheep, hens, etc.”), Swedish stia (“sty for pigs, geese, etc.”), Norwegian sti (“flock of sheep”), Icelandic stía (“a kennel”).
Meanings
(transitive) To place in, or as if in, a sty.
and here you sty me In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me The rest o' the island 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
(transitive) To live in a sty, or any messy or dirty place.
From Middle English stien, stiȝen, stighen, from Old English stīgan (“to go; ascend, mount”), from Proto-West Germanic *stīgan, from Proto-Germanic *stīganą, from Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ-.
Cognate with Dutch stijgen, German steigen, Danish stige, Norwegian Bokmål stige, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish stiga, Old Norse stíga.
From Middle English stien, stiȝen, stighen, from Old English stīgan (“to go; ascend, mount”), from Proto-West Germanic *stīgan, from Proto-Germanic *stīganą, from Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ-.
Cognate with Dutch stijgen, German steigen, Danish stige, Norwegian Bokmål stige, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish stiga, Old Norse stíga.
Meanings
(obsolete) To ascend, rise up, climb.
That she might sty to the seat of Beatifick Mirth. 1652, Edward Benlowes, Theophila, or Love's Sacrifice:
The beast impatient of his smarting wound, / And of so fierce and forcible despight, / Thought with his wings to stye aboue the ground [...]. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
From this lower tract he dared to stie up to the clowdes. 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Muiopotmos, or The Fate of the Butterflie”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:
Led along, as some Creatures are, by the Noses, and voluntarily hood-winked; or like seeled Doves, sty up, you know not whither, nor how far. 1621, Richard Montague, Diatribae upon the first part of the late History of Tithes:
From Middle English styanye, mistaken as "sty on eye" yet composed of Old English stīġend (“sty”, literally “riser”), agent noun from stīgan (“to rise”) + Middle English yë (“eye”).