pole

Meaning

Noun

1. Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or (especially) wood, used for various construction or support purposes.
2. A construction by which an animal is harnessed to a carriage.
3. A type of basic fishing rod.
4. A long sports implement used for pole-vaulting; now made of glassfiber or carbon fiber, formerly also metal, bamboo and wood have been used.
5. (slang) A telescope used to identify birds, aeroplanes or wildlife.
6. (historical) A unit of length, equal to a rod (¹⁄₄ chain or 5+¹⁄₂ yards).
7. A pole position.
8. (US, slang) A rifle.
9. (slang, vulgar) A penis.

Verb

1. To propel by pushing with poles, to push with a pole.
2. To identify something quite precisely using a telescope.
3. (transitive) To furnish with poles for support.
4. (transitive) To convey on poles.
5. (transitive) To stir, as molten glass, with a pole.
6. (transitive) To strike (the ball) very hard.
7. (transitive) To treat (copper) by blowing natural gas or other reducing agent through the molten oxide, burning off the oxygen.

Verb

To induce piezoelectricity in (a substance) by aligning the dipoles.

Synonyms

rod

post

stick

staff

stake

shaft

pillar

bar

perch

column

club

cane

spar

stanchion

pile

terminal

punt

crowbar

mast

lever

sceptre

handle

beam

peg

picket

wand

cudgel

magnetic pole

stave

baton

electrode

canoe pole

wood

🪵

long stick

polar regions

walking stick

mace

tree

🌳

punt-pole

axle

celestial pole

side

scepter

prop

pale

log

axis

paddle

stem

divide

Translations

pôle

polo

polo

Pol

perche

paal

poste

Stange

palo

Stab

bâton

poteau

polo

πόλος

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pəʊl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: pole

Inherited from Old English: pāl

Cognate with Scots: pale

Cognate with Northern Frisian: pul

Cognate with Western Frisian: poal

Cognate with Dutch: paal

Cognate with German: Pfahl

Cognate with Danish: pæl

Cognate with Swedish: påle

Cognate with Icelandic: páll

Cognate with Old English: fæc

In summary

From Middle English pole, pal, from Old English pāl (“a pole, stake, post; a kind of hoe or spade”), from Proto-West Germanic *pāl (“pole”), from Latin pālus (“stake, pale, prop, stay”), perhaps from Old Latin *paxlos, from Proto-Italic *pākslos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (“to nail, fasten”). Doublet of peel, pale, and palus.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots pale, paill (“stake, pale”), North Frisian pul, pil (“stake, pale”), Saterland Frisian Pool (“pole”), West Frisian poal (“pole”), Dutch paal (“pole”), German Pfahl (“pile, stake, post, pole”), Danish pæl (“pole”), Swedish påle (“pole”), Icelandic páll (“hoe, spade, pale”), Old English fæc (“space of time, while, division, interval; lustrum”).