English
stain
Stain comes from Old Norse steina ‘to stain, colour, paint’, from Proto-Norse stainaʀ ‘stone’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- ‘to stiffen’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steyh₂-‘to stiffen’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stainaz‘stone’reconstructed
- Proto-Norsec. 200–800 CEstainaʀtransliteratedrunes ᛊᛏᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ‘stone’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350steina‘to stain, colour, paint’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500steinen
- Englishearliest quotation 1591stain
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steyh₂-‘to stiffen’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stainaz‘stone’reconstructed
- Proto-Norsec. 200–800 CEstainaʀtransliteratedrunes ᛊᛏᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ‘stone’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350steina‘to stain, colour, paint’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500steinen
- Englishearliest quotation 1591stain
Earliest quotation: 1591, Edmund Spenser, Daughter and Heire of Henry Lord Howard: “that did all other beasts in beauty stain”.
The story
Replaced native Middle English wem (‘spot, blemish, stain’), from Old English wamm (‘spot, stain’). In some senses, influenced by unrelated Middle English disteynen (‘to discolor, remove the colour from"; literally, "de-colour’), from Anglo-Norman desteindre (‘to remove the colour from, bleach’), from Old French destaindre (‘to remove the color from, bleach’), from des- (‘dis-, de-, un-’) + teindre (‘to dye’), from Latin tingo.
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *stainaz ‘stone’
Today it means
noun A discolored spot or area caused by spillage or other contact with certain fluids or substances.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- / stain