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Definition pole

Etymology 1

From Middle English pole, pal, from Old English p?l (“a pole, stake, post; a kind of hoe or spade”), from Proto-Germanic *palaz, *p?laz (“pole”), from Latin p?lus (“stake, pale, prop, stay”) from Old Latin *paglus, from Proto-Indo-European *p??e- (“to nail, fasten”).

Noun

pole (plural poles)

1. Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or (especially) wood, used for various construction or support purposes.
2. (fishing) A type of basic fishing rod.
3. A long sports implement used for pole-vaulting; now made of glassfiber or carbon fiber, formerly also metal, bamboo and wood have been used.
4. (slang, spotting) A telescope used to identify birds, aeroplanes or wildlife.
5. (historical) A unit of length, equal to a perch (¼ chain or 5½ yards).
6. (motor racing) Pole position.
7. (US, rap music, slang) A gun.

Verb

pole (third-person singular simple present poles, present participle poling, simple past and past participle poled)

1. To propel by pushing with poles, to push with a pole.
2. To identify something quite precisely using a telescope.
3. (transitive) To furnish with poles for support.
4. (transitive) To convey on poles.
5. (transitive) To stir, as molten glass, with a pole.

Etymology 2

From Middle French pole, pôle, from Latin polus, from Ancient Greek ????? (pólos, “axis of rotation”).

Noun

pole (plural poles)

1. Either of the two points on the earth's surface around which it rotates; also, similar points on any other rotating object.
2. A point of magnetic focus, especially each of the two opposing such points of a magnet (designated north and south).
3. (geometry) A fixed point relative to other points or lines.
4. (electricity) A contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves.
5. (complex analysis) For a meromorphic function ${\displaystyle f(z)}$, any point ${\displaystyle a}$ for which ${\displaystyle f(z)\rightarrow \infty }$ as ${\displaystyle z\rightarrow a}$.
6. (obsolete) The firmament; the sky.
7. Either of the states that characterize a bipolar disorder.