Etymograph

English

sty

Sty comes from Middle English sty ‘a pigsty’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *stiją.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stijąreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stīreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150stī
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sty‘a pigsty’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stijąreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stīreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150stī
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sty‘a pigsty’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611same form

Earliest quotation: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “and here you sty me In this hard rock,…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *stiją

Another origin of sty

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steygʰ-‘to go’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stīganą‘to go up’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stīgan‘to climb, to ascend’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150stīgan‘to go’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stien‘to drop or tumble downwards’
  6. Englishtodaysty

Another origin of sty

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150stīġendliterally ‘riser’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500styanye‘an inflamed swelling on the edge of the eyelid’
  3. Englishtodaysty

From Middle English styanye, mistaken as "sty on eye" yet composed of Old English stīġend (“sty”, literally “riser”), agent noun from stīgan (‘to rise’) + Middle English yë (‘eye’).

Today it means

noun A pen or enclosure for swine.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *stiją / sty

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