Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “istolen” come from?

istolen (Middle English) comes from Old English ġestolen, from Proto-Germanic stulanaz, from Proto-Germanic stelaną, from Proto-Indo-European tsel- — to sneak.

Ancestry of “istolen”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishġestolen—
2Proto-Germanicstulanaz—
3Proto-Germanicstelanąto steal; to sneak
4Proto-Indo-Europeantsel-to sneak

Words derived from “istolen”

  • stolen
  • unstolen
  • nonstolen
  • stolenness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European tsel- →