Where does “Start” come from?

Start comes from Middle English sterten, derived from Proto-Germanic stertaz, which traces to Proto-Indo-European (s)ter-.

Start (English): A typical button for video games, originally used...

Definitions

  1. A typical button for video games, originally used...

Ancestry of “Start”, step by step

Start traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via English Stark

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishStarkThe language spoken in the Ender's Game series,...
2Germanstarkstrong; great, brilliant, awesome
3Middle High Germanstark—
4Old High Germanstarkstrong
5Proto-Germanicstarkuzstiff; rigid; strong
6Proto-Germanicsterkanąto become stiff, stiffen
7Proto-Indo-Europeansterg-rigid, stiff; to love

via Middle English stert

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishstertstart; beginning; tail
2Old Englishsteorttail
3Proto-West Germanic*stert—
4Proto-Germanicstertaztail
5Proto-Indo-European(s)terd-—
6Proto-Indo-European(s)ter-strong, firm, stiff, rigid; rigid, stiff; to...

via Middle English sterten

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishstertento leap; to start; to begin
2Old Englishstyrtanto leap up, start
3Proto-West Germanicsturtijanto fall down, tumble

Words derived from “Start”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sterg- →