steeple

Etymology

From Middle English stepel, from Old English stīpel, stȳpel, stīepel (“tower, steeple”), from Proto-Germanic *staupilaz (“that which is steep, tower, steeple”), equivalent to steep + -le. Cognate with Old Norse stǫpull (“tower, steeple”).

noun

1. A tall tower, often on a church, normally topped with a spire.
   Above the session-room of the Council is the steeple, and in the steeple is the belfry, where exists, and has existed time out of mind, the pride and wonder of the village—the great clock of the borough of Vondervotteimittiss. 1839, Edgar Allan Poe, The Devil in the Belfry
2. A spire.
3. (historical) A high headdress of the 14th century.

verb

1. (transitive) To form something into the shape of a steeple.
   He steepled his fingers as he considered the question.
   Mr. Ziegler is now angled forward with his elbows on his knees and his fingers steepled just under his nose. 2005, David Foster Wallace, Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, New York: Little, Brown and Company, page 341