Word: stool Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English stool, from Old English stōl (“chair, seat”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōl, from Proto-Germanic *stōlaz (“chair”), from Proto-Indo-European *stoh₂los (“frame, rack, stand”), from *steh₂- (“to stand”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian stuul, stölj, Stööl (“chear”), Saterland Frisian Stoul (“chear”), West Frisian stoel (“chair, seat”), Dutch stoel (“chair”), German Stuhl (“chair”), Low German Stohl (“chair”), Luxembourgish Stull (“chair”), Vilamovian śtül (“chair”), Yiddish שתוהל (shsuhl), שטול (shtul, “chair”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish stol (“chair”), Faroese stólur (“chair”), Icelandic stóll (“chair”), Crimean Gothic stul (“seat”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐍉𐌻𐍃 (stōls, “chair; throne”), Russian стул (stul, “chair”), Estonian tool (“chair”), Finnish tuoli (“chair”); also Breton and Cornish sevel (“to erect, rise; to build; to lift; to compose; to earn”), Irish sáil, sál (“heel”), Scottish Gaelic sàil (“heel”), Welsh sefyll (“to stand; to stop; to sit”), Latin sistō (“to set; to stop; to stand; to stabilise”), Umbrian 𐌔𐌄𐌔𐌕𐌖 (sestu, “to place”), Greek στέκω (stéko), στέκομαι (stékomai, “to stand up”), Albanian shtoj (“to add; to augment; to accumulate”), Lithuanian stálas (“table”), Old Prussian stallan (“table”), Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Russian стол (stol, “table”), Czech stůl (“table”), Polish stół (“table”), Serbo-Croatian сто̑, сто̑л, stȏ, stȏl (“table”), Slovak stôl (“table”), Slovene stol (“chair”), Armenian երթալ (ertʻal), էթալ (ētʻal, “to go”), Central Kurdish ستوون (stûn, “column”), Pashto ستن (stən, “needle; awl; pin; syringe; post; hand; dragonfly”), Persian ایستادن (ēstādan / istâdan), وایسادن (vâysâdan), وایستادن (vâystâdan, “to stand up; to step; to stay”), ستون (sotun / sutūn, “column”), Northern Kurdish rawestîn (“to stand up”), stûn (“column”), Ossetian стын (styn, “to stand up”), Hittite 𒋾𒄑𒍣 (tiezzi, “to step; to place oneself”), Tocharian A ṣtäm- (“to stand”), Tocharian B stäm- (“to stand”), Sanskrit तिष्ठति (tiṣṭhati, “to stand; to stay”). More at stand. The medical use derives from sense 2 (seat used for defecation). Pronunciation: /stuːl/, /stʉl/ 1. A seat, especially for one person and without armrests. Labels: countable, uncountable 2. A seat, especially for one person and without armrests. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. A seat, especially for one person and without armrests. Labels: Scotland, countable, dialectal, uncountable 4. A seat, especially for one person and without armrests. Labels: Scotland, countable, dialectal, figuratively, literally, uncountable 5. A seat, especially for one person and without armrests. Labels: Africa, West, countable, uncountable 6. A close-stool; a seat used for urination and defecation: a chamber pot, commode, outhouse seat, or toilet. Labels: countable, dated, uncountable 7. A plant that has been cut down until its main stem is close to the ground, resembling a stool, to promote new growth. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The ground in almost every part of it is covered with stools or stems of Oak, at not more than three feet stool from stool, and these not having been thinned since last cutting, are completely overburdened, and are evidently killing each other and dying for want of nourishment […] Example: With stool bedding, the plants are pruned back to the ground in the dormant season, and the shoots that form in the spring have juvenile characteristics and are called "juvenile reversion shoots." Stool bedding or stool bed layering is a common practice for the production of rootstocks of apple. […] The closer the apical meristem is to the roots of the plant, the more juvenile it is likely to be. This feature is exploited by techniques such as hedging or stool bedding that employ severe pruning to decrease the distance between the new growth and the root system, thus acting to rejuvenate the plant and benefit from the ease of rooting that is characteristic of the juvenile phase. 8. Feces, excrement. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: I provided the doctor with stool samples. Example: The diagnostic criteria for infant dyschezia are at least 10 minutes of straining and crying before successful passage of soft stools in an otherwise healthy infant less than six months of age. In a child with infant dyschezia, physical examination and stool examination are normal. 9. A production of feces or excrement, an act of defecation, stooling. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Normal stooling is widely variant. Some infants only have one stool per day, especially those on formula feeding. Others may stool with each feeding. Such frequent stooling is common in breast-fed infants during the first month of life. 10. A decoy; a portable piece of wood to which a pigeon is fastened to lure wild birds. Labels: archaic, countable, uncountable 11. A small channel on the side of a vessel, for the deadeyes of the backstays. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the fore backstay deadeyes and stool had to be lowered 2 feet 12. Material, such as oyster shells, spread on the sea bottom for oyster spat to adhere to. Labels: US, countable, dialectal, uncountable