Where does “stiff” come from?
stiff (Middle English) comes from Middle English stif, from Old English stīf, from Proto-West Germanic stīf, from Proto-Germanic stīfaz, from Proto-Indo-European steypós.
stiff (Middle English): Alternative form of stif
Ancestry of “stiff”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | stif | Stiff, firm, hard; difficult to move or... |
| 2 | Old English | stīf | — |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | stīf | stiff, rigid |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | stīfaz | stiff, rigid |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | steypós | — |
Words derived from “stiff”