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Wells's History Presidential Inaugurals ----- All Fiction ----- Shelf of Fiction Ghost Stories Short Stories Shaw, G.B. Stein, G. Stevenson, R.L. Wells, H.G. Reference > American Heritage® > Dictionary   PREVIOUS NEXT   CONTENTS · INDEX · ILLUSTRATIONS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD    The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000.   Appendix I Indo-European Roots   ENTRY: st- DEFINITION: To stand; with derivatives meaning “place or thing that is standing.” Oldest form *ste2-, colored to *sta2-, contracted to *st-. Derivatives include steed, stud2, arrest, instant, understand, static, prostitute, insist, ecstasy, and system.    I. Basic form *st-. 1. Extended form *stdh-. a. steed, from Old English stda, stallion, studhorse (< “place for breeding horses”), from Germanic *std-jn-; b. stud2, from Old English std, establishment for breeding horses, from Germanic *std. 2. Suffixed form *st-lo-. a. stool, from Old English stl, stool; b. Germanic compound *faldistlaz (see pel-2). Both a and b from Germanic *stlaz. 3. estancia, stage, stance, stanch1, stanchion, stanza, stative, stator, stay1, stet; arrest, circumstance, constant, contrast, cost, distant, extant, instant, obstacle, obstetric, oust, rest2, restharrow, restive, substance, from Latin stre, to stand. 4. Suffixed form *st-men-. etamine, stamen, stammel, from Latin stmen, thread of the warp (a technical term). 5. Suffixed form *st-mon-. penstemon, from Greek stmn, thread. 6. Suffixed form *st-ro-. starets, from Old Church Slavonic star, old (“long-standing”).    II. Zero-grade form *st- (before consonants). 1. Nasalized extended form *st-n-t-. a. stand, from Old English standan, to stand; b. understand, from Old English understandan, to know, stand under (under-, under-; see dher); c. standard, from Frankish *standan, to stand; d. stound, from Old English stund, a fixed time, while, from secondary zero-grade form in Germanic *stund-. a–d all from Germanic *standan. 2. Suffixed form *st-tyo-. stithy, from Old Norse stedhi, anvil, from Germanic *stathjn-. 3. Suffixed form *st-tlo-. staddle, stall2, starling2; stalwart, from Old English stathol, foundation, from Germanic *stathlaz. 4. Suffixed form *st-mno-. a. (i) stem1, from Old English stefn, stem, tree trunk; (ii) stalag, from Old High German stam, stem. Both (i) and (ii) from Germanic *stamniz; b. estaminet, probably from Walloon stamen, post to which a cow is tied at the feeding-trough, from a source derived from or akin to Germanic *stamniz. 5. Suffixed form *st-ti-. a. (i) stead, from Old English stede, place; (ii) shtetl, from Old High German stat, place. Both (i) and (ii) from Germanic *stadiz; b. stat2, from Latin statim, at once; c. station, from Latin stati, a standing still; d. armistice, solstice, from Latin -stitium, a stoppage; e. stasis, from Greek stasis (see III. 1. b.), a standing, a standstill. 6. Suffixed form *st-to-. a. bestead, from Old Norse stadhr, place, from Germanic *stadaz, placed; b. –stat, static, statice, stato-; astasia, astatine, from Greek statos, placed, standing. 7. Suffixed form *st-no-. a. destine, from Latin dstinre, to make firm, establish (d-, thoroughly; see de-); b. obstinate, from Latin obstinre, to set one's mind on, persist (ob-, on; see epi). 8. Suffixed form *st-tu-. estate, étagère, stage, state, statistics, statue, stature, status, statute; constitute, destitute, institute, prostitute, restitute, substitute, superstition, from Latin status, manner, position, condition, attitude, with derivatives statra, height, stature, statuere, to set up, erect, cause to stand, and superstes (< *-st-t-), witness (“who stands beyond”). 9. Suffixed form *st-dhlo-. stable2; constable, from Latin stabulum, “standing place,” stable. 10. Suffixed form *st-dhli-. establish, stable1, from Latin stabilis, standing firm. 11. Suffixed form *st-t. –stat; enstatite, from Greek -stats, one that causes to stand, a standing.    III. Zero-grade form *st-, *st()- (before vowels). 1. Reduplicated form *si-st()-. a. assist, consist, desist, exist, insist, interstice, persist, resist, subsist, from Latin sistere, to set, place, stop, stand; b. apostasy, catastasis, diastase, ecstasy, epistasis, epistemology, hypostasis, iconostasis, isostasy, metastasis, prostate, system, from Greek histanai (aorist stanai), to set, place, with stasis (*st-ti-), a standing (see II. 5. e.); c. histo-; histiocyte, histogram, from Greek histos, web, tissue (< “that which is set up”). 2. Compound form *tri-st-i-, “third person standing by” (see trei-). 3. Compound form *por-st-i-, “that which stands before” (*por-, before, forth; see per1). post1, from Latin postis, post. 4. Suffixed form *st-o- in compound *upo-st-o- (see upo).    IV. Extended root *stu- (< *stau-), becoming *stau- before consonants, *stw- before vowels; basic meaning “stout-standing, strong.” 1. Suffixed extended form *stw--. stow, from Old English stw, place, from Germanic *stw. 2. Probable o-grade suffixed extended form *stw-y-. stoa, stoic, from Greek sto (also stoi, sti), porch. 3. Suffixed extended form *stau-ro-. a. (i) store; instauration, from Latin nstaurre, to restore, set upright again (in-, on; see en); (ii) restore, from Latin restaurre, to restore, rebuild (re-, anew, again; see re-); b. staurolite, from Greek stauros, cross, post, stake. 4. Variant *tau-ro-, bull (see tauro-).    V. Zero-grade extended root *st- (< *stu-). Suffixed form *st-lo-. stylite; amphistylar, astylar, epistyle, hexastyle, hypostyle, octastyle, peristyle, prostyle, stylobate, from Greek stlos, pillar.    VI. Secondary full-grade form *steu-. Suffixed form *steu-ro-. Theravada, from Sanskrit sthavira-, thick, stout, old.    VII. Variant zero-grade extended root *stu-. Suffixed form *stu-t-. stud1, from Old English stuthu, studu, post, prop.    VIII. Secondary full-grade form *steu-. 1. Suffixed form *steu-r-. starboard, from Old English stor-, a steering, from Germanic *steur, “a steering.” 2a. steer1, from Old English steran, stran, to steer; b. stern2, from Middle English sterne, stern of a boat, possibly from a source akin to Old Norse stjrn, a rudder, a steering, derivative of stra, to steer. Both a and b from Germanic denominative *steurjan. 3. Suffixed form *steu-ro-, a larger domestic animal. steer2, from Old English stor, steer, from Germanic *steuraz, ox. 4. Probably Germanic diminutive *steur-ika-. stirk, from Old English strc, stierc, calf. (Pokorny st- 1004.)     The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. CONTENTS · INDEX · ILLUSTRATIONS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD   PREVIOUS NEXT     Click here to shop the Bartleby Bookstore. Welcome · Press · Advertising · Linking · Terms of Use · © 2008 Bartleby.com