wordaday

My colleague Emily Veinglory wrote an interesting entry on the gesture described by the adjective “steepled” here, wherein she notes:

The word I am thinking of today is ’steepled’, specifically as it relates to hands. Spellchecker assures me that the word ’steepled’ is a non-word, it fails to be, it is without existence in reality as defined by our friends at Microsoft.

Emily Veinglory points out that she can find steepled used, with specific reference to the gesture, in a variety of print sources, fictive and non, and asks:

So, what do you think? “Steepled” hands: corrupted and incorrect language, weird post-Doyle Sherlockian jargon, or a correct but modern usage

I note that while the AHD does contain steepled, the lemma is used entirely in terms of architecture, not in reference to hands:

1. Having steeples or a steeple: picturesque, steepled villages; a tiny, steepled church.
2. Steeply inclined: steepled roofs.

The OED, however, is quite helpful:

5. Of the fingers or hands: brought together in the form of a steeple. 1971 P. O’DONNELL Impossible Virgin x. 212 Tapping the tips of his steepled fingers together. 1981 ‘L. EGAN’ Miser (1982) ii. 26 ‘Not much criminal practice,’ said Jesse, brooding over his steepled hands.

My private theory, that the reference to “steepled” fingers is derived from the children’s game of “This is the church, this is the steeple, open the doors and here are all the people,” played with one’s fingers interwined, with the exception of the forefingers, which form the “steeple,” while the thumbs make the “doors,” which, when opened reveal the remaining, intertwined, wriggling fingers as the “people,” is in part supported the often unsatisfactory Urban Dictionary, which gives us:

The act of putting your fingertips together, most likely to indicate thoughtfulness.

So named because this action makes one’s hands look vaguely like a steeple.
The following children’s hand game shows an example of steepling:
This is the church; this is the steeple; open the doors, and there’s all the people.