Where does “laughing stock” come from?
laughing stock (English) comes from English stock, from Italian stoccata, from Italian stoccare, from Italian stocco, from Middle Dutch stōken, from Old Dutch stokon, from Proto-Germanic stukōną, from Proto-Indo-European (s)tewg- — to push, to hit.
laughing stock (English): An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly...
Definitions
- An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly...
Ancestry of “laughing stock”, step by step
laughing stock traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English stock
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | stock | A store or supply; The capital raised by a... |
| 2 | Italian | stoccata | hit with a sword, especially a tuck; thrust,... |
| 3 | Italian | stoccare | to stock; to strike or thrust with a tuck or... |
| 4 | Italian | stocco | tuck; A rapier, a sword; corn plant after cobs... |
| 5 | Middle Dutch | stōken | — |
| 6 | Old Dutch | stokon | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | stukōną | to push, to thrust |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)tewg- | to push, to hit |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)tew- | to push, to hit |
via English laughing
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | laughing | The action of the verb to laugh; present... |
| 2 | Middle English | laughynge | Laughing; the making of laughs |
| 3 | Middle English | laughen | To laugh; to break out in laughter or laughing;... |
| 4 | Old English | hlæhhan | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | hlahhjan | to laugh |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | hlahjaną | to laugh |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | klek- | to laugh, cackle |