Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “stif” come from?

stif (Middle English) comes from Old English stīf, from Proto-West Germanic stīf, from Proto-Germanic stīfaz, from Proto-Indo-European steypós.

stif (Middle English): Stiff, firm, hard; difficult to move or...

Definitions

  1. Stiff, firm, hard; difficult to move or...

Ancestry of “stif”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishstīf—
2Proto-West Germanicstīfstiff, rigid
3Proto-Germanicstīfazstiff, rigid
4Proto-Indo-Europeansteypós—

Words derived from “stif”

  • stiff
  • stiffness
  • stiffly
  • stiffish
  • stiffy
  • bindlestiff
  • overstiff
  • nonstiff
  • stifflike
  • stifftail
  • overstiffness
  • stiffware
  • stiffship
  • stiff-tailed duck
  • death-stiffness
  • stiff neck
  • stiffenes
  • stifly
  • stiff
Every word from Proto-Indo-European steypós →