Word.ws English Dictionary

newel

UK/ˈnjuː.əl//ˈnu.əl/

newel noun: a central pillar around which some types of spiral staircase are spiralled.

Noun (1)

newel (plural newels)

  1. A central pillar around which some types of spiral staircase are spiralled.
    Synonyms:
    newel post, spindle
  2. A sturdy pillar at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs, supporting the handrail.
    • We went along the hall to the end and up a flight of stairs with a carved handrail and newel post.1943, Raymond Chandler, The High Window, Penguin, published 2005, page 238
    Synonyms:
    newel post

Noun (2)

newel (plural newels)

  1. (obsolete) A novelty; a new thing.
    • 1882: Edmund Spenser (Alexander Balloch Grosart, ed) The Complete Works in Verse and Prose of Edmund Spenser
      He was so enamoured with the newel.
    Synonyms:
    newie, new one, newun, new'un

newel meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

newel in Tamil

சுழல்படிக்கம்பம்

newel in Urdu

متکی, ستون زینہ

newel in Bengali

প্যাঁচানো সিঁড়ির কেন্দ্রীয় স্তম্ভ, সিঁড়ির শীর্ষদেশে

Synonyms of newel

All synonyms of newel

Forms of newel

pluralnewels

Origin of newel

Inherited from Middle English nowel, *newel, from Old French noel, from either Early Medieval Latin nōdellus (“buckle”, diminutive of nōdus "knot") or Late Latin nucālis (“nut-like”, derivative of nux "nut"). Doublet of noil and noyau.

From new + -el, modelled after novel (“new, original”).

Words formed from newel

Phrases with newel

Words that rhyme with newel

Questions about newel

What does newel mean?
Newel means a central pillar around which some types of spiral staircase are spiralled.
What is newel in Tamil?
Newel in Tamil is சுழல்படிக்கம்பம். See Newel meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is newel?
Newel is a noun.
How do you pronounce newel?
Newel is pronounced /ˈnjuː.əl/ (UK).
What is the plural of newel?
The plural of newel is newels.

Words near newel in the dictionary

  1. newdle
  2. newdles
  3. newe
  4. newed
  5. newed up
  6. newel
  7. newel post
  8. newel posts
  9. neweled
  10. newell
  11. Newell teapot

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: newel (page history and authors); newel (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); newel (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); newel (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-newel.ogg.

Cite this entry: “newel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/newel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.