Meanings
plural steelyards · alternative stilliard · alternative stilyard
- A transportable balance with unequal arm lengths.
Synonyms: steelyard balance
- A place where steel (and possibly other metals as well) is stored and sold.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA transportable balance with unequal arm lengths.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna portable balance consisting of a pivoted bar with arms of unequal length
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Low GermanStalhof
- Dutchstaalhof
- Englishsteelyard
From steel + yard (“enclosed area, rod”). The sense of “place” is a calque of Dutch staalhof or Middle Low German Stalhof (Modern Dutch staal (“steel”) + hof (“court, yard”)). The sense of “balance” is presumably from the sense of “place”, originally “steelyard beam”, mixed with additional sense of “rod” (hence “rod for weighing steel”), replacing earlier Latin statēra.
More words from Dutch, Middle Low German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic قَبَّان, قَرَسْطُون
- قَبَّان (qabbān)steelyard balance
- قَرَسْطُون (qarasṭūn)steelyard balance
Basque erromatar balantza, erromana
- erromatar balantzasteelyard balance
- erromanasteelyard balance
Bulgarian канта́р, ри́мски канта́р
- канта́р (kantár)steelyard balance
- ри́мски канта́р (rímski kantár)steelyard balance
Catalan romana
- romanasteelyard balance
Chinese Mandarin 桿秤 /杆秤
- 桿秤 /杆秤 (gǎnchèng)steelyard balance
Czech přezmen
- přezmensteelyard balance
Danish bismervægt
- bismervægtsteelyard balance
Dutch unster
- unstersteelyard balance
Finnish käsipuntari
- käsipuntaristeelyard balance
French romaine
- romainesteelyard balance
German Laufgewichtswaage, römische Schnellwaage
- Laufgewichtswaagesteelyard balance
- römische Schnellwaagesteelyard balance
Italian stadera, deposito metalli
- staderasteelyard balance
- deposito metalliplace where steel is stored and sold
- ferrovecchioplace where steel is stored and sold
Japanese 竿秤
- 竿秤 (saobakari)steelyard balance
Persian قپان
- قپان (qapân)steelyard balance
Polish bezmian, przezmian
- bezmiansteelyard balance
- przezmiansteelyard balance
Russian безме́н, ка́нта́р
- безме́н (bezmén)steelyard balance
- ка́нта́р (kántár)steelyard balance
- ка́нтер (kánter)steelyard balance
- канта́рь (kantárʹ)steelyard balance
- конта́рь (kontárʹ)steelyard balance
Spanish romana
- romanasteelyard balance
Swahili tayu
- tayusteelyard balance
Swedish besman, betsman
- besmansteelyard balance
- betsmansteelyard balance
Turkish kantar
- kantarsteelyard balance
Ukrainian бе́змін, ка́нтар
- бе́змін (bézmin)steelyard balance
- ка́нтар (kántar)steelyard balance
Cite this entry
steelyard. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/steelyard
“steelyard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/steelyard. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “steelyard,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/steelyard.
Source: steelyard on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.