English
startle
Startle comes from Old English steartlian ‘to kick with the foot, struggle, stumble’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *startlōn.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*startlōnreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150steartlian‘to kick with the foot, struggle, stumble’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500startlen
- Englishearliest quotation 1660startle
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*startlōnreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150steartlian‘to kick with the foot, struggle, stumble’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500startlen
- Englishearliest quotation 1660startle
Earliest quotation: 1660, Edward Hyde, The Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon: “it would blast all their hopes, and startle all…”
Formed from start + -le
Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan ‘to fall down, tumble’
Old English styrtan ‘to leap up, start’
Middle English sterten ‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’
English start
Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *startlōn
Today it means
verb To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *startlōn / startle