Etymograph

English

stalwart

Stalwart comes from Scots stalwart ‘physically strong, powerful, stour’, and goes back to Old English stǣlwierþe ‘serviceable, able to stand in good stead’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150stǣlwierþe‘serviceable, able to stand in good stead’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stalwarde
  3. Scotsc. 1450–presentstalwart‘physically strong, powerful, stour’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1709same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150stǣlwierþe‘serviceable, able to stand in good stead’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stalwarde
  3. Scotsc. 1450–presentstalwart‘physically strong, powerful, stour’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1709same form

Earliest quotation: 1709, Henry the Minstrel, How Wallace Came into Scotland Again at the Battel of Elchok: “This true Man ſoon aſſembled him beforn: / Three…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand’

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

Today it means

adj Firmly or solidly built.

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

Etymograph / Old English stǣlwierþe / stalwart

Shirt and support for this word