stairwell

Etymology

It is formed from English stair + well,^[2][3][4] the second part being well in the sense of a shaft.^[5][4] Stair goes back to Old English stæger (“stair, staircase”), and well to welle (“spring of water, fountain”).^[2] Well had been used by 1700 for the vertical shaft through the floors of a building in which the stairs are placed.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A shaft in a building containing a flight of stairs: by 1862, according to Etymonline.^[2] The OED's first quotation is from 1931, in Dougherty and Kearney's Fire;^[5] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1920,^[3][6] and Dictionary.com to 1915–20.^[4]

Timeline

• by 1862 – a shaft in a building containing a flight of stairs.^[2] Merriam-Webster gives 1920,^[3] and the OED's first quotation is of 1931.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A vertical shaft running through a building, in which a staircase is built: Smoke rose quickly up the stairwell of the old hotel.^[3][7][8][5]

Related words

• stair
• well
• staircase
• stairway

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin