English
stub
Stub comes from Middle English stubbe ‘tree stump’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp- ‘to push, to stick’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)tewp-‘to push, to stick’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stubbaz‘stump’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stubbreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150stybb‘tree stump’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stubbe‘tree stump’
- Englishearliest quotation 1700stub
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)tewp-‘to push, to stick’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stubbaz‘stump’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stubbreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150stybb‘tree stump’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stubbe‘tree stump’
- Englishearliest quotation 1700stub
Earliest quotation: 1700, John Dryden, Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.: “And prickly stubs instead of trees are found.”
The story
Sense extended in Middle English to similarly shaped objects. Verb sense “strike one’s toe” is recorded 1848; “extinguish a cigarette” 1927.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp- ‘to push, to stick’
type, stop, typical, stuff, steep, timbre, stupendous, timpani, tympanum, 19 more
Today it means
noun Something blunted, stunted, or cut short, such as stubble or a stump.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp- / stub