English
stern
Stern comes from Old English styrne ‘stern, grave, strict, austere, hard, severe,…’, from Proto-Germanic *sturnijaz ‘angry, astonished, shocked’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ster- ‘rigid, stiff’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ster-‘rigid, stiff’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sturnijaz‘angry, astonished, shocked’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150styrne‘stern, grave, strict, austere, hard, severe, cruel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stern
- Englishearliest quotation 1594same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ster-‘rigid, stiff’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sturnijaz‘angry, astonished, shocked’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150styrne‘stern, grave, strict, austere, hard, severe, cruel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stern
- Englishearliest quotation 1594same form
Earliest quotation: 1594, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis: “I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ster- ‘rigid, stiff’
still, start, street, strength, strongly, stronger, strongest, straw, stare, throttle, torpedo, starve, cholesterol, stereo, strenuous, sterile, sterility, 17 more
Another origin of stern
- Old Norsec. 800–1350stjórn‘control, steering’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterne‘the stern’
- Englishtodaystern
The sense referring to a management post alludes to the fact that a sailing ship's captain would often stand on an aft deck.
Today it means
adj Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ster- / stern