tower
UK /ˈtaʊ.ə(ɹ)/ · US /ˈtaʊɚ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms towers towering towered towre
- noun A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure.
- noun A very tall open-framed structure on which communications devices are installed.
- noun A similarly framed structure with a platform or enclosed area on top.
- noun A control tower.
- noun A skyscraper. “The Sears Tower”
- noun (figuratively) An item of various kinds, such as a computer case, that is higher than it is wide.
- noun (figurative) A strong refuge; a defence.
- noun (business) Each of a set of information technology concerns within a business, which are treated separately so that they can be handled by different providers.
- verb (intransitive) To be very tall; to reach a high height. “The office block towered into the sky.”
- verb (intransitive) To be high or lofty; to soar.
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To soar into.
- noun One who tows.
- proper noun (UK, with 'the') The Tower of London, especially seen as a place of imprisonment or punishment. “Traitors should be sent to the Tower!”
- proper noun (countable) A habitational surname.; Alternative form of Towers.
- proper noun A city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States.
- noun (attributive, from its later association with the English mint at the Tower of London) Denoting the system of weights used by the Saxon and Norman English kings in their minting of coins.
Synonyms
donjon column pillar tugboat tug towboat loom predominate hulk
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.
From Middle English touren, torren, torrien, from Old English *torrian, from the noun (see above).
Webster’s 1913
- noun (a) A mass of building standing alone and insulated, usually higher than its diameter, but when of great size not always of that proportion.
- noun A citadel; a fortress; hence, a defense.
- verb To rise and overtop other objects; to be lofty or very high; hence, to soar.
- verb To soar into. [Obs.] Milton.
Etymology [OE. tour,tor,tur, F. tour, L. turris; akin to Gr. twr a tower, Ir. tor a castle, Gael. torr a tower, castle. Cf. Tor, Turret.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tower”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details