short poem in which the initial letters of the lines, taken in order, spell a word or phrase, 1580s, from Medieval Latin acrostichis, from Greek akrostikhis, from akros "at the end, outermost" (from PIE root *ak- "be sharp, rise (out) to a point, pierce") + stikhos "line of verse," literally "row, line" (from PIE root *steigh- "to stride, step, rise;" see stair). The second element is properly -stich, but it has been assimilated to words in -ic. As an adjective from 1680s.

"stairs at the back of a structure," 1650s, from back (adj.) + stairs (see stair). Figurative use is attested earlier (1640s).

"pertaining to the valuation of landed property as a basis for taxation," 1850, from French cadastral, from cadastre "register of the survey of lands" (16c.), from Old Italian catastico, from Late Greek katastikhos "register," literally "by the line" (see cata-, stair). Gamillscheg dismisses derivation from Late Latin capitastrum "register of the poll tax."

"down the stairs, below, to or on a lower floor," 1590s, from the prepositional phrase; see down (adv.) + stair. As an adjective, "pertaining to, relating to, or situated on the lower floor of a house," by 1819. As a noun, "the downstairs part of a building," by 1843.

"half a poetic line," 1570s, from French hémistiche (16c.) or directly from Late Latin hemistichium, from Greek hēmistikhion "half-line, half-verse," from hēmi- "half" (see hemi-) + stikhos "row, line of verse," from PIE *stigho-, suffixed form of root *steigh- "to stride, step, rise" (see stair). Related: Hemistichal.

also stair-case, 1620s, originally the enclosure of the stairs, from stair + case (n.2) in its sense "frame;" compare former window-case, door-case.

1767, from stair + way (n.).

by 1862, from stair + well (n.).

"made up of lines," 1844 (stichical is from 1787), from Greek stikhikos "of lines, of verses," from stikhos "row, line, rank, verse," related to steikhein "to go, to march in order," from PIE root *steigh- "go, rise, stride, step, walk" (see stair).

1530s, "moderator, umpire," agent noun from stickle "mediate" (1520s), probably a frequentative of Middle English stighten "to arrange, place," from Old English stihtan "to rule, direct, arrange, order," which is cognate with Middle Dutch stichten, German stiften "to found, establish," probably from Proto-Germanic *stihtan "to place on a step or base," from PIE root *steigh- "to stride, step, rise" (see stair). Meaning "person who contends or insists stubbornly" is first recorded 1640s.