English
start
Start comes from Middle English sterten ‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’, from Old English styrtan ‘to leap up, start’, and ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan ‘to fall down, tumble’, whose earlier origin is uncertain.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sturtijan‘to fall down, tumble’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150styrtan‘to leap up, start’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterten‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599start
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sturtijan‘to fall down, tumble’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150styrtan‘to leap up, start’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterten‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599start
Earliest quotation: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ster- ‘to be stiff’
still, street, strength, stronger, strongly, strongest, straw, stern, cholesterol, stereo, throttle, torpedo, sterile, stare, strenuous, starve, sterility, 17 more
Another origin of start
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ter-‘to be stiff’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sturtijan‘to startle, move, set in motion’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150styrtan‘to leap up, start’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterten‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’
- Englishtodaystart
Another origin of start
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ter-‘to be stiff’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)terd-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stertaz‘tail’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stertreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150steort‘tail’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stert‘tail’
- Englishtodaystart
Today it means
noun The beginning of an activity.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan / start