Etymograph

English

stuff

Stuff comes from Middle English stuf, and goes back to Latin stuffa.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstuffa
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stuf
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1599stuff

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstuffa
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stuf
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1599stuff

Earliest quotation: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept;…”

Every English word from Latin stuffa

Another origin of stuff

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)tewp-‘to push, to stick’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stuppōną‘to stop, close’uncertain
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stoppōn‘to clog up, block, fill’reconstructed
  4. Old High Germanc. 750–1050stoffōn‘to stuff, insert’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400estoffer‘to provide what is necessary, equip, stuff’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stuffen‘to equip, furnish’
  7. Englishtodaystuff

Today it means

noun Miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects.

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

Etymograph / Latin stuffa / stuff

Shirt and support for this word