Etymograph

English

staff

Staff comes from Old English stæf, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz ‘staff’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stebʰ-‘to stand still’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*stóbʰ-o-sreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stabaz‘staff’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stabreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150stæf‘letter of the alphabet’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500staf‘a staff used to support one's movement’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1591staff

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stebʰ-‘to stand still’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*stóbʰ-o-sreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stabaz‘staff’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stabreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150stæf‘letter of the alphabet’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500staf‘a staff used to support one's movement’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1591staff

Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “Me thought this ſtaffe mine Office-badge in Court /…”

The story

Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" and similar meanings, attested from 1702, is influenced by or is even from German Stab.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- ‘to stand still’

step, steven, staple, 5 more

Today it means

noun A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- / staff

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