stratification (English)

Where does "stratification" come from?

The English noun 'stratification' is formed from the combination of the noun 'stratum' and the suffix '-ification'[1]. The root 'stratum' is borrowed from Latin 'strātum', meaning 'a spread for a bed, coverlet, quilt, blanket', which is the neuter singular form of 'strātus', the past participle of 'sternō', meaning 'spread'[2][3]. The Latin verb traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*sterh₃-', an extension of '*ster-', meaning 'to spread'[4]. Over time, the word expanded in English to describe processes of layering in geology, vegetation, music, and socioeconomic structures.

Open questions

The Proto-Indo-European root '*sterh₃-' is a reconstructed form. [4]

Full etymology tree

stratification (English), 'The process leading to the formation or deposition of layers, especially of sedimentary rocks.'
- compound stratum (English), 'One of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another.'
  - borrowed stratus (Latin), 'spread, stretched out, spread out, having been spread out'
    - derived sterno (Latin), 'to spread, stretch out, spread out'
      - inherited *sterh₃- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to spread, extend, stretch out'
        derived *ster- (Proto-Indo-European), 'barren, infertile'
- suffix -ification (English), 'Forms nouns denoting the act or process whereby a subject becomes something else.'

Ancestors

stratum (English)

Descendants and derived words

biostratification (English)
costratification (English)
cross-stratification (English)
destratification (English)
interstratification (English)
lake stratification (English)
macrostratification (English)
microstratification (English)
monostratification (English)
multistratification (English)
overstratification (English)
phylostratification (English)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris