stool

—stoollike, adj.

/stoohl/, n.

1. a single seat on legs or a pedestal and without arms or a back.

2. a short, low support on which to stand, step, kneel, or rest the feet while sitting.

3. Hort. the stump, base, or root of a plant from which propagative organs are produced, as shoots for layering.

4. the base of a plant that annually produces new stems or shoots.

5. a cluster of shoots or stems springing up from such a base or from any root, or a single shoot or layer.

6. a bird fastened to a pole or perch and used as a decoy.

7. an artificial duck or other bird, usually made from wood, used as a decoy by hunters.

8. a privy.

9. the fecal matter evacuated at each movement of the bowels.

10. the sill of a window. See diag. under double-hung.

11. a bishop's seat considered as symbolic of his authority; see.

12. the sacred chair of certain African chiefs, symbolic of their kingship.

13. fall between two stools, to fail, through hesitation or indecision, to select either of two alternatives.

v.i.

14. to put forth shoots from the base or root, as a plant; form a stool.

15. Slang. to turn informer; serve as a stool pigeon.

[bef. 900; ME; OE stol; c. G Stuhl, ON stoll, Goth stols chair; all < Gmc *sto- ( < IE root of STAND) + *-l- suffix; akin to OCS stolu throne]

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▪ furniture

      armless and backless seat for one person. Folding stools with skin or fabric seats and solid framed stools with wood or rush seats were known to the Egyptians, the early Greeks and Romans, and the Vikings. These stools were supported on four straight legs or on four legs arranged crosswise—the “X” stool. Most variations of stool construction have been reflected either in the padded or hard top or in the support decorations.

      Passing almost unchanged from antiquity into medieval use, the stool remained the common seating form. Late medieval stools, which resembled small benches, were called board, or slab-ended, stools; they were made obsolete by the standard joint stool, which was produced, in the 17th century, in upholstered sets with chairs and footstools.

      The use of stools has often reflected a society's etiquette. In Europe, from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, strict protocol prescribed their use, and in Africa the stool often denotes the office of a tribal chief and carries with it religious symbolism.

      By the 19th century, stools had become primarily rustic or ornamental furniture. The exception was the development of the barstool, a high stool (with or without arms and back) usually fixed to a central post and used in bars and cocktail lounges.

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