Meanings
nounstairwell (plural stairwells)
plural stairwells
- A shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase.
Math teacher David Kachadourian, 57, was shot first, out of view of the camera, while rushing his students to safety in a stairwell. Kachadourian, shot in the back, flees down one flight to the third floor, leaving a bloody trail.
2007 October 25, “Cleveland police release school shooting video”, in The Denver Post, archived from the original on 06 Dec 20251 more example
Photos accompanying the report included the rusty stairwell column that was replaced, the pool corbel’s “loose, cracked, spalled deteriorated concrete” and exposed rebar, water damage to balcony eaves, and other damage to eaves and stucco on the building.
2021 July 2, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Alta Spells, Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman, “Firm held off on repairs because of stability issues in months before Surfside building collapse”, in CNN, archived from the original on 22 Nov 2021
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*steygʰ-
- Proto-Indo-European*stéygʰeti
- Proto-Germanic*stīganą
- Proto-Germanic*staigijaną
- Proto-Germanic*staigraz
- Proto-Germanic*staigriz
- Proto-West Germanic*staigri
- Old Englishstǣġer
- Middle Englishsteire
- Englishstair
- Proto-Indo-European*welh₁-
- Proto-Germanic*welazder.?
- Proto-Germanic*welat?
- Proto-Germanic*wela
- Old Englishwel
- Middle Englishwel, wal, wol, wele
- Englishwell
- Englishstairwell
Translations
Arabic عَمُود السُّلَّم
- عَمُود السُّلَّم (ʕamūd as-sullam)a shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Bulgarian стълбищна шахта
- стълбищна шахта (stălbištna šahta)a shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Catalan caixa, caixer
- caixaa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- caixera shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- buca shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Chinese Mandarin 樓梯井 /楼梯井
- 樓梯井 /楼梯井 (lóutījǐng)a shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Danish opgang, trappehus
- opganga shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- trappehusa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Dutch trappenhuis
- trappenhuisa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Esperanto ŝtuparejo
- ŝtuparejoa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Finnish rappukäytävä, porraskäytävä
- rappukäytäväa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- porraskäytäväa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- porrashuonea shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
French cage d'escalier
- cage d'escaliera shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
German Treppenhaus
- Treppenhausa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Greek φρέαρ κλιμακοστασίου
- φρέαρ κλιμακοστασίου (fréar klimakostasíou)a shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Hungarian lépcsőház
- lépcsőháza shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Icelandic stigagangur
- stigagangura shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Irish log staighre
- log staighrea shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Italian tromba delle scale, pozzo delle scale
- tromba delle scalea shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- pozzo delle scalea shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Japanese 階段の吹き抜け
- 階段の吹き抜け (kaidan no fukinuke)a shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Korean 계단통
- 계단통 (gyedantong)a shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Norwegian Bokmål trappeoppgang
- trappeoppganga shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Polish klatka schodowa
- klatka schodowaa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Portuguese poço, poço das escadas
- poçoa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- poço das escadasa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- poço da escadariaa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Russian ле́стничный коло́дец, подъе́зд
- ле́стничный коло́дец (léstničnyj kolódec)a shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- подъе́зд (podʺjézd)a shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Spanish caja/hoya de escalera, hueco/pozo de escalera
- caja/hoya de escaleraa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- hueco/pozo de escaleraa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Swedish trapphus, trappuppgång
- trapphusa shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
- trappuppgånga shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Welsh twll grisiau
- twll grisiaua shaft in a multi-story building enclosing a stairway or staircase
Cite this entry
APA
stairwell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stairwell
MLA
“stairwell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stairwell. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stairwell,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stairwell.
Source: stairwell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.