Stool

Sometimes a word is worth examining simply because of the diverse meanings that it has picked up over the centuries. Such a word is stool.

Here’s a rundown on stool through the centuries.

• A simple piece of wooden furniture designed for sitting [725]
• A seat designed for a single individual, especially a king or bishop [897]
• A low short bench or form upon which to rest the foot, to step or kneel [1250]
• A seat for an offender [1308]
• A frame upon which to work embroidery or tapestry [1385]
• A commode or privy [1410]
• A seat by a grave or tomb [1463]
• A base or stand upon which a thing is set to raise it above the ground or general surface [1481]
• A bench, counter, table, trestle [1519]
• The stand of a beehive [1523]
• Feces [1541]
• The action of evacuating the bowels [1542]
• A church pew [1570]
• The stump of a tree which has been cut down [1577]
• The scar left by a wound [1601]
• The sill of a window [1663]
• The ‘eye’ of an apple, pear or quince [1672]
• A brick-molder's shed or workshop [1693]
• The head or top of a mushroom [1744]
• A decoy bird [1825]
• A seat designed to be used by a clerk sitting at a high desk [1836]
• A police informer [1906]

The last item reveals where “stool pigeon” came from. It was a pigeon fastened to a tree stump to act as a decoy to attract wild pigeons. It betrayed its own, albeit unwittingly.

SIDEBAR: If you live in the GT region and are over 50, get a team of 3 together for this year's Senior Spelling Bee. Practice rounds at TADL Wed. April 25 & Thurs. April 26 at noon. Main event Friday, May 4th, 1 p.m., at the Gilbert Lodge on Twin Lakes. Call the TC Senior Center for details at 231-922-4911.

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