stan (Old English)
Where does "stan" come from?
The Old English noun 'stan', meaning 'stone'[1], descends through Proto-West Germanic '*stain'[1][3] and Proto-Germanic '*stainaz'[1][2]. These forms trace back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*steyh₂no-' or '*stih₂-no-', representing a suffixed form of '*steyh₂-' meaning 'to be solid, to crowd together'[1] or 'to stiffen'[2]. This ancient root may ultimately derive from an i-present connected to '*steh₂-' meaning 'to stand'[4].
Open questions
- The Proto-Indo-European root is derived from an uncertain i-present formation related to the root meaning to stand. [4]
Full etymology tree
- stan (Old English), 'stone'
- inherited *stain (Proto-West Germanic), 'stone'
- inherited *stainaz (Proto-Germanic), 'stone'
- inherited *stoyh₂nos (Pre-Germanic)
- derived *steyh₂no- (Proto-Indo-European)
- suffix *steyh₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to stiffen'
- derived *steh₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to stand (up)'
- suffix *steyh₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to stiffen'
- derived *steyh₂no- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *stoyh₂nos (Pre-Germanic)
- inherited *stainaz (Proto-Germanic), 'stone'
- inherited *stain (Proto-West Germanic), 'stone'
Ancestors
- *stain (Proto-West Germanic)
- *stainaz (Proto-Germanic)
Cognates and doublets
- стена (Bulgarian)
- stěna (Czech)
- sten (Danish)
- steen (Dutch)
- steinur (Faroese)
- Stein (German)
- Steen (German Low German)
- 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (Gothic)
- steinn (Icelandic)
- stein (Norwegian Bokmål)
- stein (Norwegian Nynorsk)
- sten (Old Dutch)
Descendants and derived words
- stan (Middle English)
- stane (Middle English)
- stane (Middle English)
- stoan (Middle English)
- ston (Middle English)
- stone (Middle English)
- stone (Middle English)
- stoon (Middle English)
- stoone (Middle English)
Sources
- stan (Old English) - Wiktionary
- stainaz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
- stain (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
- steyh₂- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
Updated October 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris