English
stipend
Stipend comes from Latin stīpendium ‘contribution’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *steyp- ‘erect’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steyp-‘erect’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstīpendium‘contribution’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400stipende
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stipend
- Englishearliest quotation 1545stipend
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steyp-‘erect’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstīpendium‘contribution’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400stipende
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stipend
- Englishearliest quotation 1545stipend
Earliest quotation: 1545, Roger Ascham, Toxophilus: “The Romaynes, […] appointed alſo the Cenſores to allovv…”
The story
The noun is derived from Late Middle English stipend, stipende (‘salary, wage’) [and other forms], from Old French stipende, stipendie, from Latin stīpendium (‘contribution; dues; impost, tax; tribute; military pay or stipend; military service’), from *stipipendium, *stippendium, from stips (‘alms; contribution, donation, gift’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steyp- (‘erect; stiff’)) + pendere (the present active infinitive of pendō (‘to cause to hang down or suspend; to weigh, weigh out; (hence) to pay’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (‘to pull; to spin; to stretch’)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *steyp- ‘erect’
Today it means
noun A regular fixed payment made to someone (especially a clergyman, judge, soldier, or teacher) for services provided by them; a salary.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *steyp- / stipend