downstairs

English

Etymology

down- +‎ stair +‎ -s

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /daʊnˈstɛɹz/
• IPA^(key): /daʊnˈstɛəz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)z
• Hyphenation: down‧stairs

Adjective

downstairs (not comparable)

1. Located on a lower floor.

   The kids sleep in the downstairs bedroom, we sleep in the upstairs one.

Translations

downstairs (adjective); a floor lower than the current one

• Finnish: alakerta (fi) sg
• Hungarian: lenti (hu), földszinti
• Japanese: 階下 (ja) (kaika)
• Korean: 아래층 (ko) (araecheung)
• Polish: na dole (pl)

Adverb

downstairs (not comparable)

1. Living, stepping, or coming down the stairs.

   walk downstairs

2. (figurative) In or to hell.

Translations

downstairs (adverb)

• Bulgarian: надолу (nadolu)
• Catalan: a baix (ca), escala avall (where to)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 樓下／楼下 (zh) (lóuxià)

• Dutch: beneden (nl)
• Esperanto: subŝtupare, malsupre
• French: au-dessous (fr), en bas (fr)
• German: unten (de), treppab (de), treppabwärts, nach unten
• Hungarian: lent (hu), lenn (hu), (on the ground floor [UK] or first floor [US]) a földszinten
• Indonesian: lantai bawah

  Sundanese: landeh

• Irish: thíos an staighre (location), síos an staighre (direction)
• Italian: giù (it)
• Japanese: 階下 (ja) (かいか, kaika)
• Korean: 아래층에 (ko) (araecheung'e), 아래층으로 (ko) (araecheung'euro) (where to)
• Latvian: lejup, lejā, apakšējā stāvā
• Neapolitan: abbascio
• Norman: à bas
• Old English: niþre (where), niþer (where to)
• Persian: طبقە پایین (tabaqe-ye pâyîn)
• Polish: na dole (pl) (where), na dół (where to)
• Portuguese: embaixo (pt)
• Russian: внизу́ (ru) (vnizú) (where), на ни́жнем этаже́ (na nížnem etažé) (where); вниз (ru) (vniz) (where to), на ни́жний эта́ж (na nížnij etáž) (where to)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: dołojce

• Spanish: abajo (es)
• Volapük: dono (vo)
• Welsh: lawr llawr (South), i lawr y staer (South), i lawr y grisiau (North)

Noun

downstairs (plural downstairs)

1. The lower floor of a house, at ground level; especially the servants’ quarters.
   • 1978, Tom Reamy, Blind Voices

     Now the two of them rattled around in the old house, even with his office and small clinic sharing the downstairs with the kitchen, parlor, and dining room.

2. (slang, euphemistic) The genitalia.

   The wind lifted up her skirt and I caught a glimpse of her downstairs.

Antonyms

• upstairs

Derived terms

• upstairs-downstairs

Translations

the genitalia

• French: en bas (fr)
• Italian: di sotto, giù (it)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can

References

• “downstairs, adv., adj., and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2022.