A question of stile

Question

The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America."

While I can infer the meaning from context, I cannot find a definition that is consistent with how the word is used here. How was this word generally used?

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In our last episode,
(Email Removed), the lovely and talented Wai Doan Hsu
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America." While I can infer the meaning from context, I cannot find a definition that is consistent with how the word is used here. How was this word generally used?[/nq]
"Stile" here is a variant spelling of "style." Standardized spelling was still something of a novelty at the time of the Articles of Confederation.
The original sense of "style" was "title, designation." "Style" still has this sense in law, although more often seen as a verb ("styled" = "titled").
So the whole is:
The title/name/designation of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America."

Lars Eighner ~~finger for geek code~~ (Email Removed) http://www.io.com/~eighner/ "The very essence of the creative is its novelty, and hence we have no standard by which to judge it." Carl R. Rogers, On Becoming a Person

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[nq:1]The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America." While I can infer the meaning from context, I cannot find a definition that is consistent with how the word is used here. How was this word generally used?[/nq]
It's the old spelling of "style", and in this sense "style" means the full name or title by which someone or some organisation is officially known. In a broader sense (especially as a verb) it means an assumed name: if I style myself "The Archbishop of Wessex", that's not my real status. The Articles concern a Nation that has been newly created, and its creators are therefore free to call it what they wish: that will now be its legal name, used by its ambassadors and so forth.
Alan Jones

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[nq:1]The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America." While I can infer the meaning from context, I cannot find a definition that is consistent with how the word is used here. How was this word generally used?[/nq]
Webster's 1828 Dictionary is good for this sort of question:

http://www.christiantech.com/
The fifth definition of "style" is:
5. Title; appellation; as the style of majesty.

(Citation) Propitious hear our prayr, whether the style of Titan please thee more

Best wishes Donna Richoux

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[nq:1]The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America." While I can infer the meaning from context, I cannot find a definition that is consistent with how the word is used here. How was this word generally used?[/nq]
A good dictionary helps:
(OED2 s.v. 'style', citations pruned to only those with the spelling 'stile' except for the 1796 Morse citation (for obvious reasons))
18. a. A legal, official, or honorific title; the proper name orrecognized appellation of a person, family, trading firm, etc.; the ceremonial designation of a sovereign, including his various titles and the enumeration of his dominions.
a1300 Cursor M. 16082 He es na godd ne godds sun, of him we knau þe stile.
c1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2832 He þat noble is of blode, and a lorde In stile.
1543?4 Act 35 Hen. VIII, c. 3 (title) The Bill for the Kinges Stile.
1625 Bacon Ess., Prophecies (Arb.) 537 The Kings Stile, is now nomore of England, but of Britaine.

1667 Milton P.L. ii. 312 Or these Titles now Must we renounce, andchanging stile be call'd Princes of ****?

1758 Payne's Universal Chron. 29 July?5 Aug. 141/1 A Grant .. of thedignity of an Earl of the said kingdom, by the name, stile and title of Earl of Wandesford, in the county of Kilkenny.
1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 232 Articles of Confederation .. in whichthey took the style of ?The United States of America.?

b. gen. Any distinguishing or qualifying title, appellation, or denomination. Now rare or Obs.

1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vi. §2 The one carrying the stile of aManufacture, and the other of a lawe, decree, or Councell.
1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl K4, A ruffler is my stile, mytitle, my profession.

1631 Heywood 2nd Pt. Fair Maid of West i. C2b, T' impose on me Thehatefull stile and blot of pandarisme, That am a Gentleman.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. iii. 10 Their soberest adversarieshave ever afforded them the stile of fooles and mad men.
1673 Penn Chr. Quaker vii. Wks. 1726 I. 542 Which excellentPrinciples .. do worthily deserve, in my Esteem, the Stile of Divinity.

1742 Young Nt. Th. iv. 788 A Christian is the highest stile of man.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States ... word is used here. How was this word generally used?[/nq]
[nq:1]A good dictionary helps: (OED2 s.v. 'style', citations pruned to only those with thespelling 'stile' except for the 1796 Morse ... my Esteem, the Stile of Divinity. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iv. 788 A Christian is the highest stile of man.[/nq]
And I have more than once, though not frequently, been asked "What's your style?" in a friendly manner by one who wanted to know my name. I think this particular usage ultimately implies that the person asked might perhaps have some title of honour in addition to his name. In some languages, such as Arabic, it's common to use some such expression as the equivalent of "your honoured name" in this question: rather the same sort of thing.
Mike.

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[nq:1]The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America." While I can infer the meaning from context, I cannot find a definition that is consistent with how the word is used here. How was this word generally used?[/nq]
Old spelling of "style".
It's a now-quaint usage meaning "designation" or "title". From the
1913 Webster's Unabridged: "6. Mode or phrase by which anything isformally designated; the title; the official designation of any important body; mode of address; as, the style of Majesty. 'One style to a gracious benefactor, another to a proud, insulting foe.' Burke."

Chris Green

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[nq:1]The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America." While I can infer the meaning from context, I cannot find a definition that is consistent with how the word is used here. How was this word generally used?[/nq]
Presumably it is AmE for "style".
It may be an older spelling (which often persist in AmE cf plow), which was altered in other Englishes to avoid confusion with the device that lets people but not cattle cross a fence.

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States ... word is used here. How was this word generally used?[/nq]
[nq:1]Old spelling of "style". It's a now-quaint usage meaning "designation" or "title". From the 1913 Webster's Unabridged: "6. Mode or ... of address; as, the style of Majesty. 'One style to a gracious benefactor, another to a proud, insulting foe.' Burke."[/nq]
1867 abridgement of the American Dictionary: Style, n. Manner ofwriting; title; pin of a dial; an engraver's tool; part of a pistil. v.t. To call; to name; to denominate.
Nell
Anyone who says "Easy as taking candy from a baby" has never tried it.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States ... word is used here. How was this word generally used?[/nq]
[nq:1]Presumably it is AmE for "style".[/nq]
The OED citations I have already posted are almost all British and predate any possibility of being American English.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Presumably it is AmE for "style".[/nq]
[nq:1]The OED citations I have already posted are almost all British and predate any possibility of being American English.[/nq]
"Plow" was also BrE, and was retained in AmE after it dropped out of BrE.

"Gotten" and "pitcher" were also BrE at one time, but now sound quaint and old-fashioned outside the US. "Leuk", as the Dutch say.

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

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