English
straight
Straight comes from Middle English streight, past participle of strecchen ‘to stretch’, from Old English streċċan, from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strakkjan‘to stretch’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150streċċan‘to stretch’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strecchen‘to stretch’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500streight‘straight’past participle of strecchen
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1360straight
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strakkjan‘to stretch’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150streċċan‘to stretch’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strecchen‘to stretch’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500streight‘straight’past participle of strecchen
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1360straight
Earliest quotation: c. 1360, Sir John Mandeville: “Egypt is a long country, but it is straight,…”
Formed from stretch + -ed
Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg- ‘stiff, rigid’
Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan ‘to stretch, make taut’
Old English streċċan ‘to stretch, extend’
Middle English strecchen ‘to stretch out, extend’
English stretch
The story
In some senses, conflated with strait (‘narrow, constricted’), which is from Latin strictus via Old French estreit.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg- ‘rigid, stiff’
through Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan ‘to stretch’
through Middle English strecchen ‘to stretch’
Today it means
adj Not crooked, curly, or bent; having a constant direction throughout its length.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan / straight