stream (English)

Where does "stream" come from?

The English noun stream traces its lineage through Middle English 'streem' and Old English 'strēam'[1]. These forms descend from Proto-West Germanic '*straum'[1][2] and Proto-Germanic '*straumaz'[1][4], meaning 'stream'. Further back, the Germanic terms originate from Proto-Indo-European '*srowmos'[1][4] meaning 'river', which is built upon the root '*srew-' meaning 'to flow'[1][4]. This deep Indo-European heritage is also shared by English words like 'rheum'.

Open questions

The root *srew- is derived from *ser- according to one theory. [3]

Full etymology tree

stream (English), 'A small river; a large creek; a body of moving water confined by banks.'
- inherited streem (Middle English), 'alternative form of strem'
  - inherited stream (Old English), 'stream'
    - inherited *straum (Proto-West Germanic), 'stream'
      - inherited *straumaz (Proto-Germanic), 'stream, current, river'
        inherited *srowmos (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived *srew- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to flow, stream'
        derived *ser- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to flow'

Ancestors

*srew- (Proto-Indo-European)
streem (Middle English)
stream (Old English)
*straum (Proto-West Germanic)
*straumaz (Proto-Germanic)

Cognates and doublets

ῥεῦμα (Ancient Greek)
stroom (Dutch)
rheum (English)
streymur (Faroese)
Strom (German)
straumur (Icelandic)
srovė (Lithuanian)
Stroom (North Frisian)
strøm (Norwegian Bokmål)
straum (Norwegian Nynorsk)
strumień (Polish)
sruth (Scottish Gaelic)

Descendants and derived words

activity stream (English)
airstream (English)
chalk stream (English)
change horses in mid-stream (English)
cross the streams (English)
data stream (English)
downstream (English)
downstream (English)
downstream (English)
first order stream (English)
float with the stream (English)
Gulf Stream (English)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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