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aisle

UK/aɪ̯l/US/aɪ̯l/
nounA2+2 meaningsCommon in everyday speech and writing · #2,927 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: aisles

An aisle is the walking space between rows — between seats on a plane, between shelves in a shop. You stand up to let the person by the window out into the aisle.

The S is silent: it sounds exactly like I'll. On a plane you book an aisle seat if you want to get out without asking permission; in a supermarket you look for the aisle with the tins, and the numbers hang down from the ceiling. In a church the aisle is the long walk to the altar, which is where walking down the aisle, meaning getting married, comes from. Politics borrowed it too — reaching across the aisle is working with the other party, named after the gap between the benches. Do not mix it with isle, a small island, which sounds the same and means nothing like it.

Taken by Adrian Pingstone · Public domain

Definitions of aisle

  1. 1nounaisleThe narrow walking space between rows of seats in a plane, train, cinema or church.A2+

    “He put his bag under the seat and stretched his legs into the aisle.”

  2. 2nounshopOne of the long lanes between the shelves of a supermarket or shop.B1

    “The rice is in the third aisle, next to the pasta.”

Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.

Phrases it lives in

  • walk down the aisle — get married, seen from the wedding itself
  • reach across the aisle — work together with politicians of the opposing party

Also practised as

  • nounOne long walking lane between the shelves of a supermarket.

Where it comes from

An aisle was a wing. Middle English ele came from Anglo-Norman ele, 'wing', from Latin āla — the side parts of a church spreading out from the middle like a pair of wings. Latin traces it back to axis, which puts aisle in the family of axle and Greek ἄξων. The silent S is an accident: the word drifted towards isle, 'island', and never came back.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *h₂eḱs-

  2. Latin

    āla

  3. Anglo-Norman

    ele — wing

  4. Middle English

    ele

  5. English, today

    aisle

From Middle English ele, from Anglo-Norman ele (“wing”) (Modern French aile), from Latin āla (whence English ala). Further from Latin axis (whence English axis, atelier). Via Proto-Indo-European h₂eḱs- cognate with English axle, Ancient Greek ἄξων (whence English axo-, axon). The modern pronunciation has been influenced by isle, whence the obsolete form isle; the modern spelling reflects further modification of this form after modern aile.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Travel & Transport, Buildings & Architecture

Practise this word

aisle in the wild

  • An aisle floor may be level or, as in theatres, sloping upward from a stage.

    Aisle

  • In health clubs, exercise equipment is normally arranged along aisles.

    Aisle

  • Hy-Vee's longtime advertising slogan, "Where there's a helpful smile in every aisle", was adopted for the chain's first television commercial in 1963.

    Hy-Vee

  • We sang 'I Was Made for Lovin' You' together at our friend's wedding the following week and a few years later, I walked down the aisle towards him.

    Futon Couch (song)

  • There is a memorial to him in the north aisle at St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh.

    Ford Tichborne

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • aisle seat