An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Stump

by Friedrich Kluge

Stump, masculine, ‘stump,’ a Low German form for High German Stumpf, Middle High German and Old High German stumpf. Corresponding to Dutch stomp, English stump (also Old Icelandic stúfr, ‘stump’?). (Modern High German Stümper, ‘bungler, blunderer,’ literally ‘mutilated person,’ is also properly Low German; compare Dutch stomper). - The adjective stumpf, ‘lopped, docked, blunt,’ comes from the equivalent Old High German and Middle High German stumpf; Dutch stomp, ‘blunt.’ Its connection with Stummel is certain; besides the Teutonic root stumb (Aryan stemp), in Modern High German Stummel, we have to assume an equivalent root stump (Aryan stemb), which appears in Lithuanian stambras, ‘stump.’ —