Etymograph

English

stow

Stow comes from Old English stōwian ‘to hold back, restrain’, from Proto-Germanic *stōōną ‘to stow, dam up’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand, place’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-‘to stand, place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stōōną‘to stow, dam up’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150stōwian‘to hold back, restrain’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stowen
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512stow

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-‘to stand, place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stōōną‘to stow, dam up’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150stōwian‘to hold back, restrain’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stowen
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512stow

Earliest quotation: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “His seconde hawke wexyd gery […] on the rode…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand, place’

state, system, post, stay, rest, stand, distance, assistant, assistance, stadium, constitution, instance, consistent, contest, establishment, establish, stable, assist, stability, instant, destination, substance, testimony, destiny, distant, resist, stem, stood, static, insist, persistent, consist, prostitution, stationary, prostitute, stud, persist, extant, substitution, stamina, 158 more

Today it means

verb To put something away in a compact and tidy manner, in its proper place, or in a suitable place.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- / stow

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