downstairs

downstairs [adverb, noun doun-stairz; adjective doun-stairz] ExamplesWord Origin adverb

1. down the stairs.
2. to or on a lower floor.

adjective

3. Also down·stair. pertaining to or situated on a lower floor, especially the ground floor.

noun

4. (used with a singular verb) the lower floor or floors of a building: The downstairs is being painted.
5. the stairway designated for use by people descending: Don’t try to go up the downstairs.

Origin of downstairs First recorded in 1590–1600; down1 + stair + -s3 Examples from the Web for downstair Historical Examples of downstair

Phœbe Smith and her husband Sam lived in one of the downstair rooms.

Two Suffolk Friends

Francis Hindes Groome

He failed, however, to find it in any of the downstair sitting-rooms.

Cripps, the Carrier

R. D. (Richard Doddridge) Blackmore

It was seven o’clock when she arrived home again, and Edith Franks was waiting for her in the downstair hall.

The Time of Roses

L. T. Meade

At last I saw that there was a small pane of glass gone in one of the downstair windows.

The Art and Practice of Hawking

Edward B. Michell

British Dictionary definitions for downstair downstairs adverb

1. down the stairs; to or on a lower floor

noun

2. 1. a lower or ground floor
   2. (as modifier)a downstairs room
3. British informal, old-fashioned the servants of a household collectivelyCompare upstairs (def. 6)

Word Origin and History for downstair downstairs adv., adj.

1590s, from down (adv.) + stairs (see stair).