Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Aisle |
AisleNoun1. A long narrow passage (as in a cave or woods). 2. Passageway between seating areas as in an auditorium or passenger vehicle or between areas of shelves of goods as in stores. 3. Part of a church divided laterally from the nave proper by rows of pillars or columns. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "aisle" was first used: sometime around 1370. (references) |
Etymology: Aisle \Aisle\, noun. [Old French expression ele, French aile, wing, wing of building, from Latin expression ala, contr. from axilla.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Aisle (pronounce ile) The north and south wings of a church. Latin, ala (axilla, ascella), through the French, aile, a wing. In German the nave of a church is schiff, and the aisle flügel (a wing). In some church documents the aisles are called alleys (walks), and hence the nave is still sometimes called the "middle aisle" or alley. The choir of Lincoln Cathedral used to be called the "Chanters' alley;" and Olden tells us that when he came to be churchwarden, in 1638, he made the Puritans "come up the middle alley on their knees to the raile." Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Transportation | Longitudinal walkway between seats of passenger aircraft. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In a modern church an aisle is thought of as a row down the middle of the church with a set of pews on each side. In a cathedral-type church building, an aisle is a passageway usually on both sides of the nave and separated from the nave by a row of pillars or columns. In a medieval cathedral a bride walking down either of the two aisles would hardly have been seen by people standing in the nave, which had no pews or chairs.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Aisle."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
This is the floor-plan of the Abbey of St.-Denis, showing the parts of a Gothic church. (The black dots are the columns supporting the roof.)
For comparison, here is the plan of Tewkesbury Abbey with the corresponding parts highlighted in the same colors. (Note: They are not drawn to the same scale; they are drawn to be about the same length in the diagram.)
In these two cruciform (cross shaped) buildings the arms of the cross (together, the "transept," which formed an aisle across the building) are quite pronounced; however, the transept arms might be so short as not to stick out past the sides of the building (as at Notre-Dame de Paris), or there might be two of them (as at Canterbury Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral).
Some gothic churches - such as Bourges - had no transepts at all and thus were not cruciform.
The end with the altar in it was normally at the east, for symbolic religious reasons, though frequently the building could not be disposed in such a way as to make that orientation very precise. The main doors were at the west end, and there were often towers on that end and usually an opening into the nave - often a stained glass "rose window."
At the ends of the transept were doors, too, and outside them were porches that were used for various rituals;
The semi-circular end of the church around the high altar, which corresponds to the apse in Romanesque and earlier architecture, was often expanded into a passage called an "ambulatory" (from the Latin "to walk") and chapels disposed around the ambulatory.
Users could make a complete circuit within the building using the north and south aisles of the nave and the ambulatory. In the bays around the ambulatory, between the supporting columns, were shrines and chapels. There was usually a larger chapel on the east end of the axis of the church - often dedicated to patron saint of the church, or to Mary, the mother of Jesus -- at the far east end. In medieval English usage this was called a "Lady Chapel."
"Chantries" were shrines or chapels where someone had paid an "endowment" to have the monks say (or "chant") prayers on a fixed schedule for someone who had died.
The "nave" (from the Latin for "a ship") was the part directly inside the main (west) doors where the public would attend services. There was usually a "rood screen" ("rood" = "cross" or "crucifix") across the nave, partitioning off the "choir" (earlier, "quire"), which was where monks would attend their own services (or
"offices"). Against the screen, on its west side toward the nave where the public could see it, was usually an altar. The next section to the east after the choir was the "presbytery" (meaning "priestly") where the priests who were assisting at Mass would sit; that section was not usually separate and might be only a couple of fancy chairs at the side. The heart of the building was the "sanctuary" where the "high altar" was. There would be altars in many of the chapels, but this was the one where Mass would be said for the public. This area was also where criminals seeking the right of sanctuary were safe from the law.
This picture shows the inside of Salisbury Cathedral, looking west from behind the high altar. The sanctuary, presbytery, choir, and nave are visible, with the back of the west front in the background.
The apse did not last long as an architectural fashion; in Europe it was replaced by the rounded "chevet," and in England by squared-off east ends, and as the cathedrals were rebuilt or repaired, their apses were remodeled into the newer shapes.
Outside the cathedral would be the "chapter house" where the monks or priests whose church it was would hold their meetings about church business; chapter houses were often round and were always connected to the church building. There was also usually a "cloister," a rectangular colonnade around a grass lawn, where the monks could walk, and their work or study cubicles often opened onto it.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Cathedral diagram."
Synonym: AisleSynonym: gangway (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Method | Door; gateway; (opening); channel, passage, avenue, means of access, approach, adit; artery, lane, alley, aisle, lobby, corridor; back-door, back-stairs; secret passage; covert way; vennel. |
Opening | Alley, aisle, glade, vista. |
Temple | Chancel, quire, choir, nave, aisle, transept, vestry, crypt, golgotha, calvary, Easter sepulcher; stall, pew; pulpit, ambo, lectern, reading desk, confessional, prothesis, credence, baldachin, baldacchino; apse, belfry; chapter house; presbytery; anxious-bench, anxious-seat; diaconicum, jube; mourner's bench, mourner's seat. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Aisle |
| English words defined with "aisle": Aisled, Aisless ♦ Chancel aisle ♦ Ile ♦ narrowbody, narrowbody aircraft ♦ side chapel. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "aisle": airplane-cabin attendant, AIRPLANE-FLIGHT ATTENDANT ♦ Bachelor's Porch, BOX TENDER ♦ CARPENTER, RAILCAR, chevron setup, classroom setup ♦ herringbone setup ♦ LOUNGE-CAR ATTENDANT ♦ peninsula booth, peninsula stand ♦ sandwich seller, schoolroom setup, schoolroom V setup ♦ V-shape setup. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Aisle" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. Tagalog (aisle). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Aisle or window, smoking or non (A Fish Called Wanda; writing credit: John Cleese; Charles Crichton) And this is the Buzz Lightyear aisle. Back in 1995, short-sighted retailers did not order enough dolls to meet demand (Toy Story 2; writing credit: John Lasseter; Peter Docter) I was at work and on my break and I took one of those home pregnancy tests from aisle eleven (City Slickers; writing credit: Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and Billy Crystal) Aisle 6- Next to the sympathy cards (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) The idea of me strutting up the aisle like some snowy white virgin is insane (I Think I Do; writing credit: Brian Sloan) | |
Lyrics | As we walk down the aisle together (So Much In Love; performing artist: All-4-One) As you run down the aisle. (It's All Been Done; performing artist: Barenaked Ladies; writing credit: Steven Page) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Panoramic View Aisle B (1904) Panorama of Machine Co. Aisle (1904) Aisle Six (1991) | |
Song Titles | Down the Aisle (Wedding Song) (performing artist: Patti LaBelle and The Blue Belles) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Periodicals |
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Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | There are 2 shots. In the first, 2 women (1 older, 1 younger) select items in a grocery store aisle. In the second, the older woman chooses between packages of red and green beans in the store. See artwork: PV-44. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer). |  | The image shows a black woman examining the broccoli on display in the produce aisle. She is also consulting Giant's food guide "Eat for Health". Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |
 | USN Medical Supply Storehouse NO. 3 : Aisle #3- Issue Storehouse Bldg. Reserved stock of Blood Plasme, "IV" solutions and Serum Albumin along bulkhead. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Ely Cathedral, England. Interior from south choir aisle. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Tyntern [sic] Abbey - interior - south aisle, looking east. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Elliott, Taylor, Woolfenden, north aisle, Detroit, Mich. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Passengers standing in the aisle of a Greyhound bus going from Washington, D.C. to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Church of the Immaculate Conception, 414 E. 14th St., New York City. Chancel from side aisle. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Sosnick & Thalheimer, business in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Aisle. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Miscellaneous interiors. Aisle in church to sanctuary with suspended star. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Down the aisle" by Jim Robinson Commentary: "A look down a bulkhead on the ocean city, nj beach ** if you download, please leave a comment, I would love to know what I'm doing right or wrong. I'm new at this photog thing." | "Church aisle" by Simon Cataudo Commentary: "The aisle my bride'll walk up on 31 July next year (I hope!). Taken 13 September 2003. ." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | And the orchards lined the way and made an aisle. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | A large Coto store in the same neighborhood devotes 18 meters of similarly arranged aisle space, with imported frozen vegetables. (references) | |
A large Norte supermarket in an upper-middle class area of Buenos Aires devotes only 12 meters of aisle space (eye-level, shallow ½ meter high glass door freezers located just above deeper floor freezers), with very little variety and no imports. (references) | ||
Economic History | South Africa | Because of laws prohibiting parliamentarians from crossing the aisle to become members of other political parties, however, the DA does not yet have a formal parliamentary presence, and its members remain either DP, NNP, or Federal Alliance party members officially. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Art Linkletter | Pinwheels. And when I came out and I walked up the aisle, one of them was going one way and one of them was going the other. She says, I got up a few steps and the one on the right fell off, whirled down and landed in a man's lap. |
Robert Novak | But Dr. Lindsey, let's be candid. There are people on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill, in Congress, who have taken this war as an opportunity to really open the floodgates on spending, raising appropriations far above your proposal. |
Rush Limbaugh | Now we're looking for new ways of being corrupted thanks to the Democrats on the left side of the aisle. |
Tip O'Neill | I would have to say that in the Congress of the United States, some of my closest and dearest friends are across the aisle. They are republicans. It's one of the things that amazes the people of the world. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | I just want to say one more thing about this, and I want every one of you to think about this the next time you get mad at one of your colleagues on the other side of the aisle. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Aisle" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.57% of the time. "Aisle" is used about 468 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.57% | 466 | 12,650 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.43% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 468 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "aisle": aisle seat ♦ apse aisle ♦ Chancel aisle ♦ Cross aisle ♦ side aisle ♦ take smb. up the aisle. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "aisle": cathedral-aisle, open-aisle, side-aisle. | |
Containing "aisle": twin-aisle airplane. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "aisle"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | gang-sitplek (aisle seat). (various references) | |
Albanian | ane, udhëz (doormat, mat), shteg (alley, approach, course, footpath, footway, gangway, gap, Lane, loophole, pass, path, pathway, ride, trace, track, trackway, trail, way), korridor (alleyway, hall, hallway, passage, passageway), hyrje (access, accession, adit, barrier, door, entrance, entry, front door, gate, gateway, hall, hallway, incoming, induction, inflow, inflowing, ingoing, ingress, inlet, input, intake, intromission, lead in, opening, porch, portal, preamble, preface, prelude, proem, prolegomena, prologue, throat). (various references) | |
Arabic | ممشى (gangway, path), ما بين كراسي كنيسة أو عربة قطار, جزء جانبي مفصول من الكنيسة, الجناح (wing). (various references) | |
Breton | trepas. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | страничен кораб, страничен (adventitious, adventive, by, circumstantial, collateral, exterior, external, incidental, indirect, lateral, marginal, oblique, off, outside, postern, side). (various references) | |
Catalan | passadís (corridor, passage). (various references) | |
Chinese | 過道 , 走道 (walkway). (various references) | |
Czech | ulièka (alley, corridor), ulièce, postranní loï chrámu, chodbièka (corridor, gangway). (various references) | |
Danish | staldgang (litter alley, passage), rensegang (dung channel, gutter, litter alley, manure gutter), midtgang (central corridor), midtergang (alley, central corridor, litter alley, passage), gang (corridor, occasion, passage, time). (various references) | |
Dutch | gangpad (clearance, gangway). (various references) | |
Esperanto | koridoran. (various references) | |
Estonian | vahekäigu. (various references) | |
Farsi | جناح (Shoulder, Wing), راهرو (Corridor, Door, Doorway, Gallery, Gangway, Passage, Passageway, Pylon, Runway, Vestibule). (various references) | |
Finnish | käytäväpaikan (aisle seat). (various references) | |
Flemish | middenpad. (various references) | |
French | couloir, allée. (various references) | |
French Canadian | couloir. (various references) | |
German | Gang (ambulation, arcade, bout, canal, colonnade, corridor, course, development, duct, errand, gait, gallery, gang, gangway, gear, hallway, heat, landing, lode, meatus, operation, pace, passage, passage(way), passageway, reef, running, speed, stride, thread, tunnel, vein, walk, walkway), Seitenschiff (side aisle), Gang zwischen Sitzbänken. (various references) | |
Greek | διάδρομος (corridor, passage way). (various references) | |
Hebrew | שדרה (file, rank, row), אגף (department, flank, side, wing). (various references) | |
Hungarian | templomi oldalhajó, folyosó (corridor, course, gangway, hallway, passage, passageway, portico). (various references) | |
Icelandic | ganginn (the aisle). (various references) | |
Italian | passaggio (arcade, changeover, conduit, crossing, entry, gangway, gateway, handing, lift, pass, passage, passing, transfer, transit, transition, way out), corridoio (corridor, gangway, hall, hallway, lobby, passage). (various references) | |
Manx | scarran killagh, ahlley. (various references) | |
Norwegian | midtgangen (the aisle). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | aisleay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | ala (flank, row, side, wing), passagem entre bancos, passagem (access, alleyway, carfare, col, communication, corridor, fare, ferry, gangway, gate, gatemoney, gateway, highroad crossing, inlet, passage, passageway, passing, place, switch-over, ticket, transit, transition, way), nave lateral, coxia (gangway), corredor de passagem (litter alley), corredor (access, ambulatory, corridor, gallery, hall, highroad crossing, lobby, racer, runner, runner-up, running, runny, starter). (various references) | |
Romanian | spaţiu (capacity, distance, elbow room, expansion, extent, room, sky, space, space bar, spread), pasaj între rânduri, pasaj (arcade, excerpt, extract, fragment, gangway, gateway, pass, passage, passage way, thoroughfare, tunnel), parte lateralã a naosului, interval (distance, gap, headway, interregnum, Interspace, interval, lapse, pause, space, space bar, while). (various references) | |
Russian | проход (access, adit, alleyway, aqueduct, canal, channel, entry, fairway, gangway, gate, orifice, pass, passage, passageway, passway, runway, steam ship, thoroughfare, walkway). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | prolaz (breach, channel, gangway, gateway, pass, passage, thoroughfare, transit), pored prolaza, krilo zgrade, bočni (lateral, overside, side, sideling, sidelong, sideways). (various references) | |
Slovene | prehodu. (various references) | |
Somali | dhexda. (various references) | |
Spanish | pasillo (corridor, gangway, hall, Lane, lobby, passage, passageway, promenade, way). (various references) | |
Swedish | gång (action, corridor, course, duct, foot, gait, gangway, go, going, motion, moving, occasion, operation, pace, passage, passageway, path, progress, road, route, running, the passage of time, time, tread, vent, walk, walking, walkway, way, working). (various references) | |
Tagalog | aisle. (various references) | |
Tahitian | aroa. (various references) | |
Turkish | koridor (corridor, hall, hallway, passage, passageway, vista). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | коридор (alley, alleyway, corridor, hallway, passage), прохід між рядами в церкві, прохід між рядами в театрі. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | xe lửa (headlight), cánh (flank), ở rạp hát. (various references) | |
Welsh | ael (brow, litter), ystlys eglwys, llwybr (alley, path, track), eil. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | andron, andronico, andronicum. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | ele. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "aisle": aisled, aisles, aisleway, aisleways. (additional references) | |
Words containing "aisle": paisley, paisleys. (additional references) | |
| |
"Aisle" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: aaise, aale, Aase, Acisclo, Aidley, Aifld, aigle, Ailbe, aile, ailes, Aileu, aille, aillen, ailo, ailsa, ailse, Ailsi, aiole, aise, aisel, Aisie, aisier, aisne, aisse, aixl, aize, Aksel, Amsel, anisle, ansel, Anselme, Arsel, asil, asile, asiles, asla, asle, atise, Ayele, Ayeshea, bissle, disle, Eisl, eisle, Faisley, fisle, haysel, iale, iiijli, Maisel, Oysley, paisle, raisle, Vasilev, Zissler. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "aisle" (pronounced ī"l) |
| 2 | ī" l | Argyll, awhile, beguile, bile, compile, file, guile, Heil, stile, style, Isle, mile, Phyle, pile, refile, restyle, revile, rile, smile, tile, vile, while, wile, worthwhile, Wyle. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-i-l-s" | |
-1 letter: ails, ales, ilea, isle, lase, leas, leis, lies, sail, sale, seal, sial. | |
-2 letters: ail, ais, ale, als, els, las, lea, lei, lie, lis, sae, sal, sea, sei, sel. | |
-3 letters: ae, ai, al, as, el, es, is, la, li, si. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-i-l-s" | |
+1 letter: abseil, aisled, aisles, aliens, alines, alkies, allies, alsike, ariels, deasil, easily, elains, emails, espial, falsie, ideals, ladies, lassie, lazies, liaise, lianes, ligase, lipase, mailes, mesial, resail, sailed, sailer, saline, saltie, samiel, serail, serial, sheila, silage, silane, silvae, stelai, valise, walies. | |
+2 letters: abelias, abseils, aediles, aerials, aidless, aiglets, aimless, ainsell, airless, albites, alevins, alexias, alexins, aliases, alibies, aliners, alipeds, alkines, alpines, alsikes, anisole, aplites, applies, asslike, astilbe, audiles, bailees, bailers, baileys, bailies, baldies, ballies, bastile, bestial, bewails, bialies, blastie, calices, celiacs, celosia, claries, dailies, dallies, denials, derails, details, devisal, dialers, dialyse, dilates, disable, eclairs, elapids, elastic, elastin, elysian, entails, espials, estival, failles, falsies, fecials, fetials, finales, gallies, glaires, glaives, glassie, goalies, hailers, halides, halites, heliast, impales, inhales, inlaces, inulase, isolate, isolead, jailers, jezails, laciest, laddies, laicise, laities, lakiest, lambies, lapides, lapises, lassies, latices, lawines, laziest, leasing, lesbian, liaised, liaises, ligases, ligates, linages, lipases, mailers, malaise, malices, malines, mealies, medials, melisma, menials, milages, misdeal, mislead, nailers, nailset, obelias, paisley, paliest, palsied, palsies, pineals, plaices, platies, pleiads, railers, rallies, realise, realism, realist, redials, remails, renails, resails, retails, revisal, saclike, sailers, salient, salines, sallied, sallier, sallies, saltier, salties, saltine, saltire, samiels, sanicle, sawlike, scaleni, scalier, sealing, sedilia, seismal, seminal, serails, serials, shalier, sheilas, silages, silanes, silesia, sizable, skiable, slainte, slatier, snailed, soilage, spaniel, special, splenia, stabile, tailers, tailles, talipes, talkies, tallies, tenails, valines, valises, vesical, wailers, wallies. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Quotations: Spoken 12. Quotations: Speeches | 13. Usage Frequency 14. Expressions 15. Expressions: Internet 16. Translations: Modern | 17. Translations: Ancient 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
