Where does “stelen” come from?
stelen (Middle Dutch) comes from Old Dutch stelan, from Proto-Germanic stelaną, from Proto-Indo-European tsel- — to sneak.
Ancestry of “stelen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Dutch | stelan | to steal |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | stelaną | to steal; to sneak |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | tsel- | to sneak |