"S" Word Origins

statement

Origin

Formed from state plus the noun-forming suffix -ment.

Staten

Dutch

Named by Dutch settlers after the States-General of the Netherlands.

stateroom

Origin

A compound of state (in the sense of grandeur) and room.

stateside

Origin

A compound of state (in the sense of "the United States") and side.

statesman

French

Formed from state, a connecting -s-, and man, modeled on the French phrase homme d'État.

statewide

Origin

A compound of state and wide.

static

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek statikos, "causing to stand," from the same root as stasis and stand.

station

Latin

From Latin statio, "a standing, post, or position," through Old French estation — related to stand and stasis.

stationary

Latin

From Latin stationarius, related to "station," a fixed place.

stationery

Origin

Originally, a "stationer" was a bookseller with a fixed shop (unlike travelling peddlers); the word later narrowed to mean paper goods specifically.

stationmaster

Origin

A compound of station and master.

statism

Origin

From stat(e) + -ism. Doublet of etatism. First attested in c. 1600.

statistic

Origin

Formed as a back-formation from the plural noun statistics.

statistical

Origin

Formed from statistic plus the adjective ending -al.

statistically

Origin

Formed from statistical plus the adverb ending -ly.

statistics

German · 1749

From German Statistik, originally coined by Gottfried Achenwall in 1749 to describe the systematic study of facts about a state.

stator

Origin

From stationary or static by analogy with rotor; alternatively from a hypothetical Latin stātor (literally “stander”); all ultimately from stāre (“to stand”).

statuary

Origin

From Latin statuāria (ars) (“(art) of sculpture”), feminine of the adjective statuārius (“of statues”).

statue

Latin

From Latin statua, related to statuere, "to set up or erect."

statuette

French

Borrowed from French statuette, a diminutive form of statue.

stature

Latin

From Old French stature, going back to Latin statura, "height, size" — from the same root as "stand" and "status."

status

Latin

From Latin 'status', meaning 'standing, position, condition', from 'stare', to stand.

status quo

Latin

From Latin status quo, 'the state in which'. It comes from the longer diplomatic formula in statu quo res erant ante bellum, 'in the state in which things were before the war', but is not simply an abbreviation of it.

statute

Late Latin

From Old French statut, from Late Latin statutum, "a thing decided" — from statuere, "to set up or establish."

statutory

Origin

From statute + the adjective-forming suffix -ory.

staunch

Old French

From Old French estanche, "watertight," related to estanchier, "to stop a flow of liquid" — the same root gives us "stanch."

staunton

Origin

From Old English stān (“stone”) + tūn (“enclosure; town, settlement”). Compare Stanton, which shares the same etymology.

stave

Origin

A back-formation from "staves," the old plural of "staff."

Stavros

Greek

From Greek stavros, meaning "cross."

stay

Latin

From Old French estayer, "to prop up or support," influenced by the unrelated Old English word for "rope" (stæg) and by Old French ester, "to stand," from Latin stare.

stead

Old English

From Old English stede, "place, position," from a Germanic root also seen in "steady" and "instead."

steadfast

Old English

From Old English stedefæst, literally "fixed in place" — a compound of stead ("place") and fast ("firm").

steadfastly

Origin

Inherited from Middle English stedefastly, stedefastliche; equivalent to steadfast + -ly.

steadfastness

Origin

From Middle English stedfastnesse, stedefastnesse, from Old English stedefæstnes (“steadfastness”), equivalent to steadfast + -ness.

steadily

Origin

Formed from steady + the adverb suffix -ly.

steady

Middle English

From Middle English stedy, built from stead ("place") plus -y, originally meaning "firmly fixed in place."

steak

Old Norse

From Old Norse steik, "roast" or "meat roasted on a stick."

steakhouse

Origin

A straightforward compound of steak + house.

steal

Old English

From Old English stelan, going back to a Germanic root shared with German stehlen and Dutch stelen.

stealer

Origin

From Middle English stelere, equivalent to steal + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Steler (“thief”), West Frisian steller, stelder (“stealer”), Dutch steler (“stealer, thief”), Danish stjæler (“stealer”).

stealth

Old English

From Old English stǣlþ, built on the same root as "steal" plus an abstract-noun ending — originally implying secrecy connected with theft.

stealthily

Origin

Formed from stealthy + -ly.

stealthy

Origin

Formed from stealth + -y.

steam

Old English

From Old English steam, "vapor, hot exhalation," from a Germanic root also connected to the Dutch stoom.

steamboat

Origin

A compound of steam + boat.

steamer

Origin

From steam + the agent suffix -er.

steaming

Origin

Formed from steam + -ing.

steamroll

Origin

From steam + roll.