Where does “stillbirth” come from?
I need to carefully analyze this etymology chain, but I notice a significant problem: the chain provided doesn't actually connect to "stillbirth" — it traces "still/distil/byrþen/stilus" back through Proto-Indo-European bʰer- (meaning "to carry/bear"). However, "stillbirth" would come from "still" (motionless) + "birth," where "still" traces to Old English "stille" (motionless, quiet), not from the "stilus" (stylus/pointed instrument) line shown in the chain. The chain as given appears to be for a different word entirely, not "stillbirth." Given the instruction to "state only what the chain supports" and "do not invent," I cannot write an accurate sentence because the chain doesn't support the etymology of "stillbirth." Could you verify the chain is correct for the headword "
stillbirth (English): The birth of a dead fetus; the delivery of an...
Definitions
- The birth of a dead fetus; the delivery of an...
Ancestry of “stillbirth”, step by step
stillbirth 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 |