aisle
/aɪ̯l/ noun
Forms aisles isle
- noun A wing of a building, notably in a church separated from the nave proper by piers.
- noun A clear path/passage through rows of seating.
- noun A clear corridor in a supermarket with shelves on both sides containing goods for sale.
- noun Any path through an otherwise obstructed space.
- noun (transport) Seat in public transport, such as a plane, train or bus, that's beside the aisle. “Do you want to seat window or aisle?”
- noun (US, politics) An idiomatic divide between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, who are said to be on two sides of the aisle.
- noun The path of a wedding procession in a church or other venue; (by extension, metonymic) marriage.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English ele, from Anglo-Norman ele (“wing”) (Modern French aile), from Latin āla (whence English ala). Further from Latin axis (whence English axis, atelier). Via Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- cognate with English axle, Ancient Greek ἄξων (áxōn) (whence English axo-, axon).
The modern pronunciation has been influenced by English isle, whence the obsolete form isle; the modern spelling reflects further modification of this form after modern French aile.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [OF. ele, F. aile, wing, wing of a building, L. ala, contr. fr. axilla.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “aisle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details