Where does “estafa” come from?
estafa (Catalan) comes from Catalan estafar, from Spanish estafar, from Italian staffare, from Italian staff, from English staff, from Middle English staf, from Old English stæf, from Proto-West Germanic stab — to stand still; to harden.
estafa (Catalan): scam, con
Ancestry of “estafa”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Catalan | estafar | to scam, swindle |
| 2 | Spanish | estafar | to swindle, to con, to defraud, to scam, to... |
| 3 | Italian | staffare | To furnish with stirrups; To get caught up in... |
| 4 | Italian | staff | staff |
| 5 | English | staff | A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick,... |
| 6 | Middle English | staf | A staff, rod or pole; a relatively long, narrow,... |
| 7 | Old English | stæf | staff; letter, written character |
| 8 | Proto-West Germanic | stab | staff; letter |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | stabaz | staff, stick |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | stebʰ- | to stand still; to harden |