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Stone ford.
places Isle Beck
dates 1225

In the Old English period the word referred to a river bank or the shore: the OED notes that ‘staithe’ in the sense of a landing-stage is ‘current only in districts where Scandinavian influence is strong’.
dates 1200-1299 1283 1347 1380 1404 1434 1778 1833

As a verb the meaning ‘to strengthen a river wall’ was transferred to house-building.
places York
dates 1524

A toll for the right to erect a stall in a market or fair.
dates 1494 1529 1543 1619-1621

Possibly an alternative spelling of stammel.
dates 1423 1520 1553

A coarse woollen cloth, commonly dyed red.
places Selby Brandsby
dates 1617 1637 1683

A small stack or pile of hay, grain, peas, etc.
dates 1592 1647

An upright bar, especially in a window. In early references they were often made of wood but some were of iron as early as 1472-3 (OED).
dates 1335 1433 1454-1455 1490 1637 1726 1779

A kind of tub or barrel.
dates 1412 1567 1644 1671

When a pit, mill or factory was not working it was said to ‘stand’.
dates 1677 1695 1720 1721 1769

spellings standall standard (1) stander
‘Standard’ was a word used in connection with wood management, especially in the phrase ‘coppicing with standards’, where the standards were the trees that the woodcutters left standing when the coppice had been felled: they were destined to be timber trees for eventual use in building projects.
dates 1574 1594-1595 1608

A minor place-name in the West Riding, possibly in connection with a standing stone or a cairn.
dates 1705-1708

An upright bar, as in the railing of a bridge or in a window frame, of wood or iron.
dates 1502 1580 1589

A high, standing bed as distinguished from a truckle-bed.
dates 1557 1567 1635 1658

A rack or frame which stood on four legs and held animal fodder. It can be compared with the fixed hecks inside farm-buildings which served the same purpose.
dates 1570 1580 1647 1731

A regular position for a market stall or booth, subject to tolls.
dates 1538 1579 1663

An alternative form of stand-bed.
dates 1545 1562

An upright ornament, or an item of kitchen or tableware, contrasted with ‘flat piece’.
places Halsham Hull
dates 1482 1520

A large block of stone standing upright.
dates 1403 1540 1619-1621 1722


spellings stank
A dam or pool. They were often mill dams and served as fish-ponds.
dates 1148-1154 1227 1497 1568 1615 1633 1736

A piece of ‘U’ shaped metal which had sharp ends so that it could be driven into wood.
dates 1371 1394-1395 1469 1754

A word of Old English origin for a post, pillar or column, usually of wood or stone.
dates 1619-1621 1771

spellings stern
Early spellings of ‘star’.
dates 1454 1498 1531 1578


Having a start or handle.
places Ingmanthorpe
dates 1529

A by-name of uncertain meaning; possibly associated with messengers.
dates 1308 1320

Originally a boot worn by countrymen but applied later to leggings or gaiters.
dates 1278 1517 1552

To suffer from the cold, to die of cold.
dates 1716 1782 1798

A book–seller or one working in any of the trades connected with books. Not an itinerant vendor but one with a ‘station’ or shop.
places York Richmond Hull
dates 1335 1400 1678

Statutes, or Statute-sessions, were fairs or gatherings during which servants were hired, and they are said to have had their origin in two early Elizabethan statutes.
dates 1642 1689 1741 1760

A fence of staves or wooden posts.
places Royston Leeds
dates 1651 1669

spellings staffer staff
A form of ‘stave’, that is a stake of the kind employed in strengthening and repairing hedges.
dates 1572 1623 1701

A regional spelling of ‘staithe’ which captures the dialect pronunciation.
places Bawtry
dates 1567

Support or maintenance, used in the phrase ‘stay of living’ in marriage contracts.
dates 1603 1704

As a verb it could mean to be delayed, as by bad weather and floods.
dates 1488 1575 1586 1670 1688 1708


A wooden handle or shaft.
dates 1520 1570-1580 1639 1695 1712


A north-country word for a ladder, noted in counties where Scandinavian influence was strong.
dates 1522 1559 1561 1563 1596

A general term for several alloys of iron and carbon that have been produced artificially so as to have greater hardness and elasticity, making them more suitable for industrial purposes and the production of edge tools.
places Sheffield
dates 1574

A regional spelling of stile, that is a passage over or through a fence.
dates 1448 1465 1572 1583

Occupational term for the makers of steel.
places Sheffield
dates 1700

To bespeak something, a regional word.
dates 1674

A vessel in which brewers steeped malt, possibly made of wood originally.
dates 1376 1377 1419 1438 1522 1542 1545

Of uncertain meaning but used of an animal, possibly one with an upright or high forehead.
places Huddersfield
dates 1617

A building where the steeping of malt could take place.
places Beverley
dates 1444

A young ox, especially one which has been castrated.
dates 1607 1617 1623 1627 1644 1645

The owner of a house was often granted the right to place a ladder on ground which adjoined his property, so that he might carry out necessary repairs. This was originally referred to as a 'stee room' and then as ladder room as the use of dialect in official documents declined.
dates 1539 1589 1656

To compress, to make tight or solid.
dates 1489 1695

A gander.
dates 1563 1570 1581 1682 1727

A north Yorkshire word for a dike or open drain.
places Potto Cawood
dates 1362 1651

Sometimes a place of shelter for animals, but in this minor place-name possibly a location where salmon could be netted.
dates 1570

One example noted, either a right to dig for stone or a place where stone might be quarried.
places Gristhorpe
dates 1370

Historically this was predominantly a feminine suffix, as in spinster, but it was widely used in Yorkshire in occupational terms for both men and women.
dates 1297 1301 1379

The protective piling round the piers of a bridge, driven into the river bed.
places Yarm
dates 1739

A popular name for cows which had a white patch on the forehead.
dates 1486 1545 1546 1553 1677

It has several related meanings in northern dialects, of which one is ‘an assembly, a gatherin, an appointment’ (EDD).
places Slaithwaite
dates 1593

Photo by Kreuzschnabel CC BY-SA 3.0