tower

Meaning

Noun

1. A very tall iron-framed structure, usually painted red and white, on which microwave, radio, satellite, or other communication antennas are installed; mast.
2. A similarly framed structure with a platform or enclosed area on top, used as a lookout for spotting fires, plane crashes, fugitives, etc.
3. A water tower.
4. A control tower.
5. Any very tall building or structure; skyscraper.
6. (figuratively) An item of various kinds, such as a computer case, that is higher than it is wide.
7. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, informal) Ellipsis of interlocking tower.
8. (figuratively) A strong refuge; a defence.
9. (historical) A tall fashionable headdress worn in the time of King William III and Queen Anne.
10. (obsolete) High flight; elevation.
11. The sixteenth trump or Major Arcana card in many Tarot decks, usually deemed an ill omen.
12. The nineteenth Lenormand card, representing structure, bureaucracy, stability and loneliness.
13. (collective) A group of giraffes.
14. Each of a set of information technology concerns within a business, which are treated separately so that they can be handled by different providers.
15. A metal stand used as a pivot to support a punty at a furnace.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To be very tall.
2. (intransitive) To be high or lofty; to soar.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To soar into.

Synonyms

rise

spire

turret

pagoda

lookout

soar

tugboat

predominate

platform

towboat

castle

🏰

terrace

rear

tug

dominate

heighten

pillar

column

hulk

keep

pylon

lift

columnar

columned

loom

citadel

stage

steeple

prick

protrude

raise

rise up

rook

room

sail

spring

stand out

stronghold

tall

tower block

towing

transude

uplift

uprise

wing

🪽

narrow boat

tall building

tower above

watch-tower

dagoba

Translations

tour

Turm

torre

toren

torre

torre

turris

πύργος

torre

kule

برج

🏰

emporragen

torrione

ragen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtaʊ.ə(ɹ)/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: tour

Inherited from Old English: tūr

Cognate with Scots: tour

Cognate with Western Frisian: toer

Cognate with Dutch: toren

Cognate with German: Turm

Cognate with Danish: tårn

Cognate with Swedish: torn

Cognate with Icelandic: turn

Cognate with Welsh: tŵr

Inherited from Middle English: touren

Inherited from Old English: *torrian

In summary

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).
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.

Sentences

We first met each other under the Eiffel tower , it was magical .

A grounded tower also simplifies the installation of aircraft warning lamps .