Where does “Stalin” come from?
Stalin comes from Russian Ста́лин, formed with the Russian suffix -ин from German Stahl meaning "steel," which derives from Proto-Germanic stahlą, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European steh₂- meaning "to stand."
Ancestry of “Stalin”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Russian | Ста́лин | Stalin |
| 2 | Russian | сталь | steel |
| 3 | Dutch | staal | steel; sample |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | stael | — |
| 5 | Old French | estal | position, place, site; stall, stable |
| 6 | Middle Dutch | stal | standing; market stall; stable |
| 7 | Old Dutch | stāl | — |
| 8 | Old Dutch | stahal | — |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | stahlą | steel |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | stah- | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | stāk- | stand, pole |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | stā- | to stand, place |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | steh₂- | to stand |
Words derived from “Stalin”