English
standard
Standard comes from Middle English standard ‘a standard’, and goes back to Frankish *standahard.
- Frankishc. 250–700*standahardliterally ‘stand firm, stand hard’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estandart‘gathering place’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500standard‘a standard’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590standard
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Frankishc. 250–700*standahardliterally ‘stand firm, stand hard’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estandart‘gathering place’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500standard‘a standard’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590standard
Earliest quotation: c. 1590, Thomas Lodge, A Looking Glass for London: “Frolic, my lords; let all the standards walk, /…”
Formed from stand + -ard
Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand’
Proto-Germanic *standaną ‘to stand’
Proto-West Germanic *standan ‘to stand’
Old English standan ‘to stand’
Middle English stonden ‘to stand’
English stand
The story
An alternative etymology derives the second element from Frankish *oʀd (‘point, spot, place’) (compare Old French ordé (‘pointed’), Old English ord (‘point, source, vanguard’), German Standort (“location, place, site, position, base”, literally “standing-point”)). Merged with Middle English standar, stander, standere (“flag, banner”, literally “stander”), equivalent to stand + -er.
Every English word from Frankish *standahard
Today it means
adj Falling within an accepted range of size, amount, power, quality, etc.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Frankish *standahard / standard