Where does “Stillwell” come from?
Stillwell (English) comes from English still, from Old English stillan, from Proto-West Germanic stillijan, from Proto-West Germanic -jan, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “Stillwell”, step by step
Stillwell traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English still
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | still | Not moving; calm; Not effervescing; not... |
| 2 | Old English | stillan | become calm, abate, subside; calm, pacify,... |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | stillijan | to make still, quiet |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -jan | Creates denominative verbs from nouns; Creates... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 8 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
via English well
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | well | Accurately, competently, satisfactorily;... |
| 2 | Middle English | wellen | to boil, to bubble |
| 3 | Old English | weallan | to well |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | wallaną | to well up, spring out, bubble forth |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | wēlH- | to roll, to undulate |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | welH- | to turn, to wind |