Etymograph

English

stare

Stare comes from Middle English staren ‘to look fixedly’, from Old English starian ‘to stare’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ster- ‘barren, infertile’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ster-‘barren, infertile’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*starjaną‘to be fixed, be rigid’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*starēn‘to gaze, stare’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150starian‘to stare’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500staren‘to look fixedly’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1599stare

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ster-‘barren, infertile’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*starjaną‘to be fixed, be rigid’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*starēn‘to gaze, stare’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150starian‘to stare’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500staren‘to look fixedly’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1599stare

Earliest quotation: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Makest my blood cold, and my hair to stare.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ster- ‘barren, infertile’

still, street, start, strength, stronger, strongly, strongest, straw, stern, cholesterol, throttle, torpedo, stereo, sterile, starve, strenuous, sterility, 17 more

Today it means

verb To look fixedly (at something).

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ster- / stare

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