An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Stab

by Friedrich Kluge

Stab, masculine, ‘staff, stick, staff-officers,’ from Middle High German and Old High German stap (genitive stabes), masculine, ‘stick, properly staff’; a common Teutonic word, represented also by Gothic stafs (b), Anglo-Saxon stœf, English staff, Dutch staf (compare also Buchstabe under Buch). Its relation to the similarly sounding Old High German verb stabên, ‘to be stiff’) leads to an Aryan root stap, ‘to be firm,’ which is implied by Sanscrit sthâpay, ‘to cause to stand, erect,’ or to Aryan stabh in Lithuanian stábas, stóbras, ‘statue,’ ‘staff, buttress.’