Etymograph

English

strut

Strut comes from Middle English strouten ‘to protrude or bulge’, from Old English strūtian ‘to project out’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *streudʰ- ‘rigid, stiff’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*streudʰ-‘rigid, stiff’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strūtōnąreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150strūtian‘to project out’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strouten‘to protrude or bulge’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597strut

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*streudʰ-‘rigid, stiff’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strūtōnąreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150strūtian‘to project out’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strouten‘to protrude or bulge’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597strut

Earliest quotation: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wiues of Windsor: “[O]h, I ſhould remember him: do's he not hold…”

The story

The verb is derived from Middle English strouten, struten (‘to bulge, swell; to protrude, stick out; to bluster, threaten; to object forcefully; to create a disturbance; to fight; to display one's clothes in a proud or vain manner’) [and other forms], from Old English strūtian (‘to project out; stand out stiffly; to exert oneself, struggle’), from Proto-Germanic *strūtōną, *strūtijaną (‘to be puffed up, swell’), from Proto-Indo-European *streudʰ- (‘rigid, stiff’), from *(s)ter- (‘firm; strong; rigid, stiff’). The English word is cognate with Danish strutte (‘to bulge, bristle’), Low German strutt (‘stiff’), Middle High German striuzen (‘to bristle; to ruffle’) (modern German strotzen (‘to bristle up’), sträußen (obsolete, except in Alemannic)); and compare Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌿𐍄𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌻 (þrutsfill, “leprosy”), Old Norse þrútinn (‘swollen’).

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *streudʰ-

Another origin of strut

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strūtōnąuncertain
  2. Englishtodaystrut

The origin of sense 1 of the noun (‘beam or rod providing support’) is unknown; it is probably ultimately from Proto-Germanic *strūtōną, *strūtijaną (‘to be puffed up, swell’): see further at etymology 1.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. The English word is cognate with Icelandic strútur (‘hood jutting out like a horn’), Low German strutt (‘rigid, stiff’), Norwegian strut (‘nozzle, spout’), Swedish strut (‘paper cornet’). The verb is derived from sense 1 of the noun. Sense 2 of the noun (‘act of strutting’) is derived from the verb: see above.

Today it means

verb Of a peacock or other fowl: to stand or walk stiffly, with the tail erect and spread out.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *streudʰ- / strut

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