"S" Word Origins

stowaway

Origin

From the phrasal verb "stow away," meaning to hide oneself among stowed cargo.

Stowe

Middle English

From Middle English stowe, from Old English stōw (“place”).

straddle

Origin · 1560

A 1560s alteration of the older dialect word "striddle," related to "stride."

Stradivarius

Italian

Named after the Stradivari family of Italian instrument makers, most famously Antonio Stradivari.

straggle

Origin

From Middle English straglen, of uncertain origin, possibly from (or cognate to) dialectal Norwegian stragla (“to walk laboriously”).

straggler

Origin

From straggle + -er.

straggot

Origin

Blend of str(aight) + (f)aggot.

straight

Middle English

From Middle English "streight," the past participle of "strecchen" ("to stretch") — straight originally meant "stretched out."

straighten

Origin

Formed from "straight" plus the verb-forming suffix "-en."

straightforward

Origin

From "straight" plus "forward."

straightness

Origin

From Middle English streightnes, equivalent to straight + -ness. Cognate with Scots strauchtness, straichtness (“straightness”).

strain

Latin

The verb traces to Old French "estraindre" ("to bind tightly"), from Latin "stringere"; the "lineage/variety" noun sense comes from a separate Old English root meaning "gain" or "stock."

strainer

Origin

From Middle English strener, streynour, strenyour, equivalent to strain + -er.

strainingly

Origin

From straining + -ly.

strait

Latin

From Old French "estreit," from Latin "strictus" ("drawn tight") — the same root as "strict."

straitjacket

Origin

From "strait" ("restrictive") plus "jacket."

strand

Old English

From Old English "strand" ("shore"), related to German and Scandinavian words for "beach"; the "thread of rope" sense developed as a separate but similarly old use.

strange

Latin

From Old French "estrange," from Latin "extraneus" ("that which is on the outside") — the same root as "extraneous" and "estrange."

strangeling

Origin

From strange + -ling.

strangely

Middle English

From Middle English "straungely," built from "strange" plus "-ly."

strangeness

Middle English

From Middle English "straungenesse," built from "strange" plus "-ness."

stranger

Latin

From Old French "estrangier" ("foreign"), ultimately from Latin "extraneus" — the same root as "strange" and "estrange."

strangle

Ancient Greek

From Old French "estrangler," ultimately from Ancient Greek "strangaloomai" ("to be strangled"), related to "strangale" ("a halter").

stranglehold

Origin

From "strangle" plus "hold."

strangler

Origin

From "strangle" plus the agent suffix "-er."

strangulate

Origin

From Latin strangulō.

strangulation

Latin

From Latin "strangulatio" ("choking"), from "strangulare" ("to choke"); related to "strangle."

strap

Ancient Greek

From an earlier form "strope," from Latin "stroppus" ("strap"), ultimately from Ancient Greek "strophos" ("rope"), related to "strophe."

strapless

Origin

From "strap" plus "-less."

strapper

Origin

From strap + -er, principally strap + -er (agent noun suffix). The sense referring to a poorly producing milk cow (from strap + -er) came from a dialectal sense of the verb strap as a troponym of milk: not even the most skilful milking action could coax enough milk from the udder.

Strasbourg

French

From French Strasbourg, from Middle High German Strāzburc. Compare modern German Straßburg, equivalent to Straße (“street, road”) + Burg (“borough, fortified town, castle”).

Strasser

German

Borrowed from German Strasser.

strata

Latin

From "strata title," itself borrowed from the Latin plural of "stratum" ("layer").

stratagem

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek "strategema" ("the act of a general"), from "strategos" ("a general") — the same root as "strategy."

strategic

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek "strategikos" ("of a general"), from "strategos" ("general, army leader").

strategically

Origin

From "strategic" plus the adverb suffix "-ally."

strategist

Greek

From "strategy" plus the agent suffix "-ist," ultimately tracing back to Greek roots for a military commander.

strategy

Greek

From Greek stratēgia, "the office or role of a general," from stratos ("army") plus agein ("to lead").

Stratford

Old English

From Old English strǣt (“road”) + ford (“ford”). Doublet of Stretford.

strathallan

Origin

From strath + Allan, the valley of the Allan Water.

stratification

Origin

From stratum + -ification.

stratosphere

French

Coined in French as stratosphère by the meteorologist who discovered the layer, built from "strato-" (layer) and "-sphere."

Stratton

Old English

From Old English strǣt (“street, paved high-way”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

stratum

Origin

Borrowed from Latin strātum (“a spread for a bed, coverlet, quilt, blanket; a pillow, bolster; a bed”), neuter singular of strātus, perfect passive participle of sternō (“spread”). Doublet of estrade and street.

Strauss

German

Borrowed from German Strauss.

Stravinsky

Russian

Transliteration of Russian Страви́нский (Stravínskij), from Polish Strawiński, from Polish Strawa, from Lithuanian Strėva (river in Lithuania).

straw

Old English

From Old English streaw, related to a root meaning "to strew" or scatter — straw is literally the stuff that gets strewn on the ground.

strawberry

Old English

From Old English streawberige, joining "straw" and "berry" — most likely because wild strawberries spread along straw-like runners, or because pickers once threaded them onto straws to carry them.