stole

noun — 3 senses

stole

noun

UK /stəʊl/ · US /stoʊl/

Etymology From Old English stole, from Latin stola, from Ancient Greek στολή (stolḗ, “stole, garment, equipment”); akin to stall. Doublet of stola.

1

A garment consisting of a decorated band worn on the back of the neck, each end hanging over the chest, worn in ecclesiastical settings or sometimes as a part of graduation dress, corresponding to the Eastern epitrachelion.

  • 1994-1998, Encyclopaedia Britannica CD 98, Multimedia Edition Certain robes indicate a position in the hierarchy; others correspond to function and may be worn by the same individual at different times. The most important vestment among the insignia [of the clergy] is the stole, the emblem of sacerdotal status, the origin of which is the ancient pallium. The stole originally was a draped garment, then a folded one with the appearance of a scarf, and, finally, in the 4th century, a scarf. As a symbol of jurisdictionin the Roman Empire, the supreme pontiff (the pope, or bishop of Rome) conferred it upon archbishops and, later, upon bishops, as emblematic of their sharing in the papal authority.
  • With sou'-wester under arm, and oilskin open so that God might see the stole and know that there was no deception, he chanted from a prayer-book in a tone exactly like that of a blackfellow devil-dovvening: […]1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter X, in Capricornia, page 167:
2

A scarf-like garment, often made of fur.

Derived terms
stoled, stole fee, stolelike

stole

noun

Etymology From Latin stolō. Doublet of stolon.

1

Biology, Botany, Natural sciences A stolon.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.