Etymology From Old French estanson, estanchon, (Modern French étançon), from estance (“a stay, a prop”), from Latin stāns (“standing”), present participle of stō.
1
A vertical pole, post, or support.
The train began to move. Lace walked with it, holding a stanchion.1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter IX, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 149:
You cross under the rusting stanchions of the old elevated highway and walk out to the pier.1984, Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City, →ISBN, page 10:
2 more examples
Hiro climbs on his bike, eases it through the neighbourhood and onto the Street, and then gosses it up to a few hundred miles an hour, slaloming between the stanchions of the monorail, praticing.1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 365:
He staggers against a stanchion, trips over a rope, and tumbles into the space between the quay and the steel plates of the freighter.2013, J. M. Coetzee, chapter 27, in The Childhood of Jesus, Melbourne, Australia: The Text Publishing Company, page 268:
2
A framework of such posts, used to secure or confine cattle.
Etymology From Old French estanson, estanchon, (Modern French étançon), from estance (“a stay, a prop”), from Latin stāns (“standing”), present participle of stō.
1
To erect stanchions, or equip something with stanchions.
2
To confine by means of stanchions, typically used for cattle.