tower
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: arts
business
cartomancy
crafts
glassblowing
hobbies
human-sciences
lifestyle
mysticism
philosophy
sciences
Etymology: From Middle English tour, tur, tor, from Old English tūr, tor, torr ("tower; rock"; > English tor) and Old French tour, toer, tor; both from Latin turris (“a tower”), Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) (Hesychius), τύρσις (túrsis). Displaced native Middle English stepel for the general sense of "tower".
Compare Scots tour, towr, towre (“tower”), West Frisian toer (“tower”), Dutch toren (“tower”), German Turm (“tower”), Danish tårn (“tower”), Swedish torn (“tower”), Icelandic turn (“tower”), Welsh tŵr.
Doublet of tor, tourelle, and turret.
Inflected forms:
form: towers
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: towre
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: towers
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: towering
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: towered
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: towered
pos: verb
tags: past
form: towre
pos: verb
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure.
pos: noun
examples: an observation tower, an isolated watch tower, a church tower, conning tower
The valley is closed in at the lower end by the village, the church tower and a few roofs being visible through the trees; […]
[…] an isolated watch-tower still stands above the highway as it passes around the lowest ridge extending from the castle. Called Burj al-Sabi ('Tower of the Youth'), it protected the access to the castle's port […]
The clock tower above your apartment tolls, ringing twice. [...People] examine the bells with tuning fork and soundhorn, and scurry about with clipboard and blueprint, [but] they do not appear to be in the process of repairing or maintaining the bell-tower at all.
gloss: A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure.
pos: noun
examples: signal tower, radio tower, cell tower
gloss: A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure.
pos: noun
examples: observation tower, watch tower
gloss: A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure.
pos: noun
gloss: A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure.
pos: noun
examples: The Sears Tower
He'd taken her to see […] The Towering Inferno […] She imagined the screen itself must be hot as the burning San Francisco tower. […] She expected the screen to go up in a sheath of flame as the Glass Tower had, expected sparks to leap from the aluminum into the surrounding hayfields, […]
gloss: An item of various kinds, such as a computer case, that is higher than it is wide.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
gloss: A strong refuge; a defence.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
examples: Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
A group of giraffes is called a tower.
gloss: Each of a set of information technology concerns within a business, which are treated separately so that they can be handled by different providers.
pos: noun
examples: Suppliers compete separately for the towers and service integrator and management contract, which assists the government in the integration and operation of its services.
Service towers are significant IT functional areas, such as infrastructure, applications, security, etc., each possibly managed by a different service provider. The service integrator role is crucial for coordinating and integrating these service towers.
gloss: The sixteenth named (trump or Major Arcana) card in many Tarot decks, usually deemed an ill omen.
pos: noun
gloss: The nineteenth Lenormand card, representing structure, bureaucracy, stability and loneliness.
pos: noun
gloss: A group of giraffes.
pos: noun
tags: collective
gloss: A metal stand used as a pivot to support a punty at a furnace.
pos: noun
gloss: A tall fashionable headdress worn in the time of King William III and Queen Anne.
pos: noun
tags: historical
examples: Lay trains of amorous intrigues / In towers, and curls, and periwigs.
gloss: High flight; elevation.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
examples: Nigh in her sight
The Bird of Jove, stoopt from his aerie tour,
Two Birds of gayest plume before him drove.
gloss: To be very tall.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The office block towered into the sky.
Potentilla and Ivory Daphne sat humpily about on the unfolded lawns, and ahead, there towered out enormous cliffs and fantastic pinnacles of what looked like Dolomite.
This is itself a cheerless spot, particularly on a rainy day, when, overshadowed by the great massif of rock that towers in the background, and surrounded by the grey and cheerless quarries, it has a depressing character much in contrast with the green verdure encountered on the northern end of this interesting branch line.
Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers.
gloss: To be high or lofty; to soar.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: My lord protector's hawks do tower so well.
When Hope, the eagle that tower’d, could see
No cliff beyond him in the sky,
His pinions were bent droopingly —
And homeward turn’d his soften’d eye.
As we breasted the first summit, the precipitous mass of the Raven's Rock, towering some 250 ft. above the railway, looked grim and forbidding in the failing light, and distant Ben Wyves was shrouded in mist.
To the left towers the Jungfrau, with the train heading directly towards it.
gloss: To soar into.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: Her state with oary feet; yet oft they quit
The dank, and, rising on stiff pennons, tower
The mid aerial sky
Synonyms: donjon
Related words: mast
Derived words: airport tower
antenna tower
apartment tower
ATC tower
beacon tower
bell tower
belltower
bridge tower
bubble tower
buttress tower
cat tower
cell tower
cell phone tower
cell base tower
chain tower
Charters Towers
church tower
clock tower
clocktower
coaling tower
conning tower
control tower
cooling tower
crossing tower
Devil's Tower
Devils Tower
dice tower
drill tower
drop tower
drum tower
Eiffel Tower
erection tower
fire lookout tower
fire tower
fire tower stairway
flanking tower
flare tower
folly tower
gate-tower
Gay-Lussac tower
Glover tower
Glover's tower
goat tower
guardtower, guard tower
hose tower
hot tower
interlocking tower
ivory tower
ivory-tower
lantern tower
Leaning Tower
lift tower
light tower
lookout tower
Maiden Tower
Maiden's tower
Martello tower
megatower
mini tower
minitower
monotower
moon tower
moonlight tower
mooring tower
multitower
mural tower
needle tower
N-tower
observation tower
office tower
PC tower
peek tower
pencil tower
Pictish tower
plate tower
power tower
prayer tower
prilling tower
radio tower
rood tower
round tower
scaffolding tower
shot tower
siege tower
signal tower
smoke tower
solar tower
spray tower
stair tower
stairtower
stealth tower
summer-tower
supertower
switch tower
telecommunications tower
television tower
Texas tower
Tokyo Tower
tower bastion
tower block
tower bolt
tower case
tower clock
tower crane
tower cress
tower defence
tower defense
Tower Hamlets
Towerhead
Tower Hill
tower house
tower ladder
towerless
towerlet
towerlike
towerman
tower mill
tower-mill
tower mustard
tower of Babel
Tower of London
tower of silence
tower of strength
tower owl
towerscape
tower shield
tower skull
towers of Hanoi
tower telescope
tower wagon
towerwise
towerwork
towery
transmission tower
wakeboard tower
wall tower
wall-tower
watchtower
watch-tower
watch tower
water tower
winding tower
wind tower
outtower
overtower
towerer
tower over
uptower
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: toring
lang: Albanian
word: kullë
lang: Amharic
word: ግንብ
roman: gənb
lang: Arabic
word: بُرْج
roman: burj
lang: Arabic
word: برج
roman: burg
lang: Arabic
word: بُرْج
roman: burj
lang: Iraqi Arabic
word: برج
roman: burij
lang: Aragonese
word: torraza
lang: Aragonese
word: torre
lang: Aramaic
word: ܡܓܕܠܐ
roman: maḡdlā
lang: Armenian
word: աշտարակ
roman: aštarak
lang: Assamese
word: দুর্গ
lang: Assamese
word: মিনাৰ
roman: minar
lang: Asturian
word: torre
lang: Avar
word: си
roman: si
lang: Azerbaijani
word: qala
lang: Azerbaijani
word: qüllə
lang: Azerbaijani
word: bürc
lang: Azerbaijani
word: vışka
lang: Bashkir
word: манара
roman: manara
lang: Bashkir
word: башня
roman: başnya
lang: Basque
word: dorre
lang: Belarusian
word: ве́жа
roman: vjéža
lang: Belarusian
word: вы́шка
roman: výška
lang: Belarusian
word: це́рам
roman: cjéram
lang: Bengali
word: মিনার
roman: minar
lang: Bengali
word: বুরুজ
roman: buruj
lang: Breton
word: tour
lang: Bulgarian
word: ку́ла
roman: kúla
lang: Burmese
word: ရဲတိုက်
roman: rai:tuik
lang: Catalan
word: torre
lang: Chechen
word: бӏов
roman: bˀov
lang: Cherokee
word: ᎡᏆ
roman: equa
lang: Chinese Cantonese
word: 塔
roman: taap³
lang: Chinese
word: та
roman: ta
lang: Eastern Min Chinese
word: 塔
roman: ták
lang: Gan Chinese
word: 塔
roman: ta³
lang: Hakka Chinese
word: 塔
roman: thap
lang: Chinese
word: 塔
roman: zh-min-nan
lang: Jin Chinese
word: 塔
roman: tah⁴
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 塔樓 /塔楼
roman: tǎlóu
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 塔
roman: tǎ
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 樓閣 /楼阁
roman: lóugé
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 樓臺 /楼台
roman: lóutái
lang: Northern Min Chinese
word: 塔
roman: tă
lang: Wu Chinese
word: 塔
roman: ⁴thaq
lang: Xiang Chinese
word: 塔
roman: ta⁶
lang: West Circassian
word: щэчанэ
roman: śɛčanɛ
lang: Czech
word: věž
lang: Danish
word: tårn
lang: Dutch
word: toren
lang: Erzya
word: кевмар
roman: kevmar
lang: Erzya
word: палманькудо
roman: palmańkudo
lang: Erzya
word: сярдак
roman: śardak
lang: Esperanto
word: turo
lang: Estonian
word: torn
lang: Faroese
word: torn
lang: Finnish
word: torni
lang: French
word: tour
lang: Middle French
word: tour
lang: Old French
word: tor
lang: West-Frisian
word: toer
lang: Galician
word: torre
lang: Galician
word: crochel
lang: Galician
word: caramanchel
lang: Georgian
word: კოშკი
roman: ḳošḳi
lang: Georgian
word: გოდოლი
roman: godoli
lang: German
word: Turm
lang: German
word: Durm
lang: Bavarian German
word: Tuam
lang: Greek
word: πύργος
roman: pýrgos
lang: Ancient Greek
word: πύργος
roman: púrgos
lang: Gujarati
word: બુરજ
roman: buraj
lang: Hebrew
word: מִגְדָּל
roman: migdál
lang: Hindi
word: टावर
roman: ṭāvar
lang: Hindi
word: लाट
roman: lāṭ
lang: Hindi
word: अटारी
roman: aṭārī
lang: Hindi
word: बुर्ज
roman: burj
lang: Hungarian
word: torony
lang: Hunsrik
word: Torrem
lang: Icelandic
word: turn
lang: Ido
word: turmo
lang: Igbo
word: ulọ aja
lang: Igbo
word: ugẹle
lang: Ilocano
word: torre
lang: Indonesian
word: menara
lang: Irish
word: túr
lang: Italian
word: torre
lang: Japanese
word: 塔
roman: tō
lang: Japanese
word: タワー
roman: tawā
lang: Javanese
word: menara
lang: Kalmyk
word: цамхаг
roman: tsamxag
lang: Kannada
word: ಮೇರುವೆ
roman: mēruve
lang: Kazakh
word: мұнара
roman: mūnara
lang: Khmer
word: ប៉ម
roman: pɑɑm
lang: Khmer
word: ប្រាង្គ
roman: praang
lang: Korean
word: 탑
roman: tap
lang: Korean
word: 타워
roman: tawo
lang: Northern Kurdish
word: birc
lang: Kyrgyz
word: мунара
roman: munara
lang: Kyrgyz
word: бурана
roman: burana
lang: Lao
word: ຫໍ
roman: hǭ
lang: Lao
word: ຫໍຄອຢ
roman: hǭ khǭy
lang: Latin
word: turris
lang: Latvian
word: tornis
lang: Limburgish
word: toeare
lang: Lithuanian
word: bokštas
lang: Lombard
word: tór
lang: Low German
word: Toorn
lang: Lutuv
word: ingsuo
lang: Luxembourgish
word: Tuerm
lang: Macedonian
word: кула
roman: kula
lang: Malagasy
word: tilikambo
lang: Malay
word: menara
lang: Malayalam
word: ഗോപുരം
roman: gōpuraṁ
lang: Maltese
word: borġ
lang: Maltese
word: torri
lang: Māori
word: pourewa
lang: Māori
word: pūhara
lang: Māori
word: pūwhara
lang: Marathi
word: मनोरा
roman: manorā
lang: Eastern Mari
word: башне
roman: bašńe
lang: Mongolian
word: цамхаг
roman: camxag
lang: Moore
word: gãosgo
lang: Nahuatl
word: tlapilkoyan
lang: Nepali
word: स्तम्भ
roman: stambha
lang: Nepali
word: टावर
roman: ṭāwar
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: tårn
lang: Occitan
word: torre
lang: Old Occitan
word: torre
lang: Church Slavic
word: сꙑнъ
roman: synŭ
lang: Church Slavic
word: стлъпъ
roman: stlŭpŭ
lang: Church Slavic
word: трѣмъ
roman: trěmŭ
lang: Church Slavic
word: ⱄⱏⰺⱀⱏ
roman: synŭ
lang: Church Slavic
word: ⱄⱅⰾⱏⱂⱏ
roman: stlŭpŭ
lang: Church Slavic
word: ⱅⱃⱑⰿⱏ
roman: trěmŭ
lang: Old East Slavic
word: вѣжа
roman: věža
lang: Old East Slavic
word: нꙑръ
roman: nyrŭ
lang: Old English
word: stīepel
lang: Old Galician-Portuguese
word: torre
lang: Ossetian
word: мӕсыг
roman: mæsyg
lang: Ossetian
word: гӕнах
roman: gænax
lang: Pannonian Rusyn
word: турня
roman: turnja
lang: Pashto
word: برج
roman: borj
lang: Dari
word: بُرْج
roman: burj
lang: Iranian Persian
word: بُرْج
roman: borj
lang: Polish
word: wieża
lang: Polish
word: baszta
lang: Polish
word: stołp (bergfried)
lang: Portuguese
word: torre
lang: Punjabi
word: ਟਾਵਰ
roman: ṭāvar
lang: Punjabi
word: ਬੁਰਜ
roman: burj
lang: Punjabi
word: برج
roman: burj
lang: Punjabi
word: مینار
roman: menār
lang: Quechua
word: turri
lang: Romanian
word: turn
lang: Romansh
word: tur
lang: Russian
word: ба́шня
roman: bášnja
lang: Russian
word: вы́шка
roman: výška
lang: Russian
word: ве́жа
roman: véža
lang: Russian
word: те́рем
roman: térem
lang: Russian
word: тура́
roman: turá
lang: Northern Sami
word: toardna
lang: Samoan
word: olo
lang: Samogitian
word: buokšts
lang: Sanskrit
word: अट्ट
roman: aṭṭa
lang: Scots
word: tour
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: tùr
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: то́рањ
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: tóranj
lang: Sicilian
word: turri
lang: Sinhalese
word: කුළුණ
roman: kuḷuṇa
lang: Slovak
word: veža
lang: Slovene
word: stolp
lang: Lower Sorbian
word: torm
lang: Upper Sorbian
word: bašta
lang: Upper Sorbian
word: wěža
lang: Spanish
word: torre
lang: Spanish
word: crochel
lang: Spanish
word: burche
lang: Swahili
word: mnara
lang: Swedish
word: torn
lang: Tagalog
word: tore
lang: Tajik
word: бурҷ
roman: burj
lang: Tajik
word: манора
roman: manora
lang: Tamil
word: கோபுரம்
roman: kōpuram
lang: Tatar
word: манара
roman: manara
lang: Tatar
word: каланча
roman: qalança
lang: Telugu
word: బురుజు
roman: buruju
lang: Telugu
word: గోపురము
roman: gōpuramu
lang: Thai
word: หอ
roman: hɔ̌ɔ
lang: Thai
word: หอคอย
roman: hɔ̌ɔ-kɔɔi
lang: Tibetan
word: ཁང་ཀྲོང
roman: khang krong
lang: Tibetan
word: ཁང་པ་མཐོ་པོ་ཀྲོང་ཀྲོང
roman: khang pa mtho po krong krong
lang: Tigrinya
word: ጸብለለ
roman: ṣäblälä
lang: Tigrinya
word: ግምቢ
roman: gəmbi
lang: Turkish
word: kule
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: قله
roman: kulle
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: برج
roman: burc
lang: Turkmen
word: minara
lang: Turkmen
word: wyşka
lang: Ugaritic
word: 𐎎𐎂𐎄𐎍
roman: mgdl
lang: Ukrainian
word: ба́шта
roman: bášta
lang: Ukrainian
word: ве́жа
roman: véža
lang: Ukrainian
word: ви́шка
roman: výška
lang: Ukrainian
word: те́рем
roman: térem
lang: Urdu
word: ٹاوَر
roman: ṭāvar
lang: Urdu
word: بُرْج
roman: burj
lang: Urdu
word: مِینار
roman: mīnār
lang: Uyghur
word: مۇنار
roman: munar
lang: Uzbek
word: minora
lang: Uzbek
word: burj
lang: Uzbek
word: bashnya
lang: Uzbek
word: vishka
lang: Vietnamese
word: tháp
lang: Walloon
word: tour
lang: Welsh
word: tŵr
lang: Yiddish
word: טורעם
roman: turem
lang: Zhuang
word: dap