[style] n [ME stile, style, fr. L stilus spike, stem, stylus, style of writing; perh. akin to L instigare to goad--more at stick] (14c) 1: designation, title
2. a: a distinctive manner of expression (as in writing or speech) "writes with more attention to ~ than to content" "the flowery ~ of 18th century prose" b: a distinctive manner or custom of behaving or conducting oneself "the formal ~ of the court" "his ~ is abrasive"; also: a particular mode of living "in high ~" c: a particular manner or technique by which something is done, created, or performed "a unique ~ of horseback riding" "the classical ~ of dance" 3 a: stylus b: gnomon 1b c: a filiform prolongation of a plant ovary bearing a stigma at its apex--see flower illustration d: a slender elongated process (as a bristle) on an animal
4: a distinctive quality, form, or type of something "a new dress ~" "the Greek ~ of architecture"
5. a: the state of being popular: fashion "clothes that are always in ~" b: fashionable elegance c: beauty, grace, or ease of manner or technique "an awkward moment she handled with ~"
6: a convention with respect to spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and typographic arrangement and display followed in writing or printing syn see fashion -- style.less adj -- style.less.ness n
[2]style vt styled ; styl.ing (ca. 1580) 1: to call or designate by an identifying term: name
2. a: to give a particular style to b: to design, make, or arrange in accord with the prevailing mode -- styl.er n