Stripe

How to spell stripe

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce stripe

What does stripe mean?

1. nounA long narrow band of colour, texture, or material that differs from the surface around it.
2. verbTo mark a surface with long narrow bands of contrasting colour or texture.

Stripe in a sentence

• noun

  The new tie had a thin red stripe running down the middle.

• verb

  The decorators planned to stripe the wall in soft grey and white.

• noun

  A single white stripe marked the centre of the road.

• verb

  Workers will stripe the car park to mark each parking bay.

Where does stripe come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

Stripe came into English in the 1400s from the Middle Dutch and Middle Low German word stripe, which named a streak, a line, or a band of differing colour. The underlying Germanic root described a narrow mark running across a surface, and the same family gave rise to related words such as the verb to strip and the noun strip, all carrying the idea of a long thin line. English speakers first used it of cloth and animal markings, then extended it to the fabric of uniforms and flags. From the military uniform came the familiar sense of a chevron on a sleeve marking rank, the source of phrases like earning your stripes. The spelling keeps the silent final e, which lengthens the vowel and is the only thing separating stripe from the unrelated word strip.

How the word is built

• strip- (from a Germanic root meaning a streak or band)
• -e (silent final letter)