"S" Word Origins

strawberrylike

Origin

From strawberry + -like.

stray

Old French

From Old French estraier, tied to the idea of wandering off the main road ("strata"), and blended with an Old English word meaning to scatter.

straya

Origin

Phonetic spelling of a Broad Australian pronunciation of Australia.

streak

Old English

From Old English strica, meaning a line or stroke, related to a very old root meaning simply "line."

streakline

Origin

From streak + line.

stream

Old English

From Old English strēam, from a very old root meaning "to flow" — the same root gives us the word "rheum."

streamer

Origin

From Middle English stremer, stremere, equivalent to stream + -er.

streaming

Middle English

From Middle English stremyng, stremynge, stremande, equivalent to stream + -ing.

streamline

Origin

From "stream" plus "line" — originally a technical term describing the path a fluid particle follows.

streamstyle

Origin

From stream + style.

street

Latin

From Old English strēt, an early borrowing from Latin strata ("paved road"), the past participle of a verb meaning "to spread or pave."

streetcar

Origin

Coined from "street" and "car," distinguishing these rail cars — which ran on tracks laid right into the street — from cars on separate dedicated railroads.

streetlight

Origin

From street + light.

streetwalker

Origin

From street + walker.

streetwise

Origin

From street + -wise.

Streisand

Origin · 2003

Named after singer Barbra Streisand, whose 2003 lawsuit to remove a photo of her house from the internet backfired spectacularly and made the photo famous.

strength

Old English

From Old English strengthu, built from "strong" plus a suffix that turns adjectives into abstract nouns.

strengthen

Middle English

From Middle English, formed by adding the verb ending "-en" to "strength."

strengthener

Origin

From strengthen + -er.

strengthful

Origin

From Middle English strengthful, strenkyþfull, equivalent to strength + -ful.

strengthless

Origin

From Middle English strengthles, streintheles, strencthelæs, equivalent to strength + -less.

strenuosity

Origin

From strenu(ous) + -osity.

strenuous

Latin

From Latin strenuus, meaning vigorous or quick.

stress

Latin · 1900

From Middle English destresse, via Old French, ultimately from Latin distringere ("to stretch tight"). The psychological sense of mental strain became common in the 20th century, popularized by researchers studying the body's response to pressure.

stressful

Origin

From "stress" plus the adjective suffix "-ful."

stretch

Old English

From Old English streċċan, meaning to extend or spread out, from a Proto-Germanic root related to being taut or rigid — the same root gives us "stark."

stretcher

Origin

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

stretching

Origin

From "stretch" plus the "-ing" suffix.

stretchy

Origin

From "stretch" plus the adjective suffix "-y."

stretford

Origin

From Old English strǽt (“road”) + ford (“ford”). Doublet of Stratford.

strew

Origin

From Middle English strewen, strawen, streowen, from Old English strewian, strēawian, strēowian (“to strew, scatter”), from Proto-West Germanic *strauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *strawjaną (“to strew”), from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (“to spread, scatter”). Cognate with Scots strow, straw (“to strew”), West Frisian streauwe (“to strew”), Dutch strooien (“to strew, scatter, sprinkle”), German streuen (“to strew, scatter”), Swedish strö (“to strew”), Icelandic strá (“to strew”), Norwegian Nynorsk strå (“to strew”).

strewing

Origin

Inherited from Middle English strewynge.

strewth

Origin

Minced form of God's truth. Compare zounds, blimey.

stria

Origin

Borrowed from Latin stria (“furrow”).

stricken

Old English

From the old past participle of "strike," via Old English stricen.

Strickland

Old English

Habitational surname from the villages of Strickland Ketel and Strickland Roger, from Old English stirc (“bullock”) + land.

strict

Latin

From Latin strictus, past participle of stringere ("to draw tight, bind"). Related to "strain" and "stringent."

strictly

Origin

From strict plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

stricture

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin strictūra, from Latin strictus.

stride

Old English

From Old English stridan, related to words in other Germanic languages meaning "to fight" or "to stride" — the sense narrowed to walking with long steps.

strident

Origin

From French strident, from Latin strīdēns, present active participle of strīdō.

striding

Origin

From Middle English strydynge, equivalent to stride + -ing.

stridulation

Origin

1838, from earlier term stridulous; from Latin strīdulus (“giving a shrill sound, creaking”), from strīdō (“utter a shrill or harsh sound; creak, shriek, grate, hiss”).

strife

Old French

From Old French estrif, related to the verb estriver ("to strive, quarrel"), itself from a Frankish root — the same origin as "strive."

strigoi

Latin

From Romanian strigoi, tracing back to Latin striga ("witch, evil spirit"), related to strix ("screech owl").

strike

Old English

From Old English strican ("to go, stroke, rub"), from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to stroke or press" — the sense evolved through "to strike a flag" (lower it) into today's meanings of hitting and of workers stopping work.

strikebreaker

Origin

From strike + breaker.

striker

Origin

From strike plus the agent suffix -er, meaning "one who strikes."