An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/steif

by Friedrich Kluge

steif, adj., ‘stiff, rigid, pedantic, formal,’ from MidHG. stîf, ‘stiff, fixed, upright, brave, stately’; probably a MidG. and LG. word. Comp. Du. stijf, AS. stîf (E. stiff), OIc. stîfr, ‘fixed, stiff.’ The Teut. root stîf, in these cognates, occurs in the non-Teut. languages as stîp; Lat. stîpes. ‘stake, stick,’ Lith. stiprùs, ‘strong, firm,’ stìpti, ‘to become stiff.’ Comp. also Stift.