Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/370

---

meaning of the verbal root has been modified in Teut. — The vb. steigern, ‘to raise, increase, put up to auction,’ allied to MidHG. and OHG. steigen, ‘to cause something to ascend, to elevate or extol something,’ occurs in early ModHG. only; hence the vb. means lit. ‘to cause something to mount in price.’

steil, adj., ‘steep,’ from the equiv. late the variants of which, steigel, OHG. steigal, prove the origin of steil (lit. ‘mounting’) from the cognates discussed under Steig. Comp. Du. steil, AS. stœ̂gl, stœ̂ger, ‘steep’; to these are allied OHG. stëcchal, stëhhal, MidHG. stëckel (stëchel), ‘steep,’ Bav., Alsat., MidHG., and LG. štickel, ‘steep’ (in the UpG. dialects steil seems to be entirely unknown).

Stein, m., ‘stone,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. stein, m.; corresponding to Goth. stains, OIc. steinn, AS. stân, E. stone (to which E. dial. steen, ‘stone vessel,’ from AS. stœ̂ne, ‘pitcher’ is allied; comp. OHG. steinna, ‘pitcher’), Du. steen, OSax. stên. The common Teut. staino- is related pre-historically to OSlov. stěna, ‘wall’ (stĕnĭnŭ, ‘rocky, stony’), as well as to Gr. στία, στῖον, ‘pebble.’ —

Steinmetze, see under Metze (1).

Steiß, m., ‘rump, buttocks’ (with MidG. ei instead of eu), from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. stī̆uz (hence also the early ModHG. variant Steuß), m., corresponding to Du. stuit. It is probably based on a Teut. stī̆wot-, which is primit. allied to Lat. stîva, ‘plough handle.’

Stelle, f., ‘place, spot, situation, office,’ from MidHG. stal, m., ‘standing-place’ (comp. Stall), or more probably a recent derivative of stellen, MidHG. and OHG. stęllen, ‘to put up, erect, fix, establish,’ a denominate of Teut. stallo-, ‘standing place,’ discussed under Stall. From the Aryan root stel, ‘to stand’ (an extended form of Aryan stā̆, see stehen), comp. Stuhl and Stiel, and especially Gr. στέλλω, ‘to put, send,’ στόλος, ‘expedition,’ Sans. sthûna (for sthulṇa), ‘pillar,’ sthal, ‘to stand firm.’ To this word stillen and Stolle are also allied.

Stelze, f., ‘stilt, wooden leg,’ from the equiv. MidHG. stęlze, OHG. stęlza, f.; corresponding to Du. stelt, Dan. stylte, Swed. stylta, and the equiv. E. stilt. Probably a genuine Teut. word, the early history of which is, however, obscure.

stemmen, vb., ‘to stem, check, oppose,’

from MidHG. and OHG. stęmmen (stęmen), ‘to check, restrain, cause to stand.’ For the root stam, see under stammeln, stumm, ungestüm.

Stempel, m., ‘stamp, die, pestle,’ ModHG. only, properly a LG. word, of which the HG. form is stęmpfel; comp. Du. stempel, allied to stampfen.

Stengel, m., ‘stem, stalk,’ from tho equiv. MidHG. stęngel, OHG. stęngil; a diminutive of Stange.

steppen, vb. ‘to quilt, stitch,’ from MidHG. stëppen, ‘to prick here and there, sew in rows, stitch’; an intensive form from the root of Stift.

sterben, vb., ‘to die,’ from the equiv. MidHG. stërben, OHG. stërban, str. vb., corresponding to OSax. stërƀan, Du. sterven, AS. steorfan, ‘to die,’ E. to starve. In East Teut. this term is wanting (comp. the root discussed under tot). OIc., however, preserves a corresponding starf, n., ‘work, trouble, effort,’ to which starfa, ‘to take pains,’ and stjarfe, ‘tetanus, locked jaw,’ are allied. The parallel development of Gr. οἱ καμόντες, ‘the dead,’ from κάμνω, ‘to take pains,’ shows that we may assign, on the basis of the Scand. words, the primary meaning ‘to torment oneself’ to the West Teut. stërban. Unfortunately the early history of the Teut. root sterb is obscure. For the primit. Aryan root for ‘to die’ see under Mord.

Sterke, f., ‘cow’; see Stärke.

Sterling, m., from MidHG. sterlinc (g), m., ‘a coin,’ whence E. sterling. The MidHG. word sterlinc (stœrlinc) indicates by its formation, which is similar to that of Pfenning and Schilling, that it is an old word; its early history is, however, obscure.

Stern, m., ‘star,’ from the equiv. MidHG. stërne, OHG. sterno, m. (OHG. and MidHG. variant stërn); comp. Goth. staírnô, f., OIc. stjarna, f., ‘star.’ OHG. stër-no seems to be linked with OHG. sun-no, mâ-no, like Goth. staírnô, f., with Goth. sun-nô, f.; the earlier MidHG. variant stërre, OHG. and OSax. stërro, lead to Du. ster, star, AS. steorra, E. star. The primary stem ster is common in the same sense to the Aryan group (comp. Mond and Sonne); to it correspond Sans. star, Zend stare, Gr. ἀστήρ, ἀστρον, Lat. stella (for *sterula). Whether this root ster belongs to the Aryan root stṛ, ‘to scatter’ (Stern, lit. ‘dispenser of light’?), or to the Sans. root as, ‘to throw’ (Stern, lit. ‘thrower of rays’?), is altogether