Etymograph

English

stale

Stale comes from Old French estal ‘fixed position, place’.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400estal‘fixed position, place’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stale
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1440same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400estal‘fixed position, place’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stale
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1440same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1440, Promp. Parv.: “Stalyn, or make stale drynke, defeco.”

The story

From Middle English stale, from Old French estal (‘fixed position, place’), but probably originally from Proto-Germanic *stāną (‘to stand’): compare West Flemish stel in the same sense for ‘beer’ and ‘urine’.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand (up)’

system, state, post, rest, stay, stand, distance, constitution, assistant, consistent, contest, stood, assistance, instance, assist, stadium, establishment, establish, destination, testimony, stem, destiny, resist, stability, instant, substance, insist, persistent, distant, consist, stable, prostitution, static, stud, prostitute, persist, stationary, substitution, stool, armistice, 158 more

through Old French estal ‘fixed position, place’

installment

Another origin of stale

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stel-‘to put, to place’root as named
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stal-reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150stalu‘stealing’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stale
  5. Englishtodaysame form

The development was paralleled by the ablaut which became English steal, from Middle English stele, from Old English stela, from Proto-Germanic *stel-. Both are from the same Proto-Indo-European root *stel-, *stol- (‘to place, establish’), whence also Ancient Greek στελεός (steleós, “handle”).

Another origin of stale

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-‘to stand (up)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sth₂dʰlóm‘place or position’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stallaz‘standing, position, stall, stable’reconstructed
  4. Frankishc. 250–700stal
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400estal‘place, something placed’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stale
  7. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

adj No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc.

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

Etymograph / Old French estal / stale

Shirt and support for this word