"S" Word Origins

strikingly

Origin

From striking plus the adverb suffix -ly.

strikingness

Origin

From striking + -ness.

string

Old English

From Old English streng, from a Proto-Germanic root related to "tighten" — ultimately connected to the word "strong."

stringent

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin stringens, from stringere ("to draw tight"), the same root that gives us "strict" and "string."

stringer

Origin

From string plus the agent suffix -er, originally "one who strings" (such as strings on a bow).

stringy

Origin

From string plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

strip

German

Likely an alteration of stripe, or from a Middle Low German word of uncertain origin.

stripe

German

From Middle Dutch or Middle Low German stripe, related to modern Dutch streep and German Streifen, all meaning "stripe" or "band."

striped

Origin

From stripe plus the adjective-forming suffix -ed.

striper

Origin

* (device): From stripe (verb) + -er (agent noun suffix). * (fish): From stripe (noun) + -er (relational suffix). * (military): From stripe (noun) + -er (suffix denoting a person to whom a certain number of something applies).

stripling

Origin

From Middle English stripling (“an adolescent, a youth (specifically one who is male); a child”) [and other forms], possibly from strepen (“to remove the clothes of, undress, strip; to peel off; to skin (an animal); to remove; to take something away from someone; to plunder, rob”) (connoting something that is stripped and thin, and yet to reach its full size) + -ling (suffix forming diminutives). Strepen is derived from Old English *strēpan (Anglian), *strīepan, *strīpan, *strȳpan (West Saxon), from Proto-West Germanic *straupijan, from Proto-Germanic *straupijaną (“to strip; to pluck; to wipe”), from *streupaną (“to touch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *strew-, *sterw-, *ster- (“a strip; a streak; a beam, ray”)) + *-janą (suffix forming causatives from strong verbs with the sense of ‘to cause to do’). The English word is analysable as strip (“long, narrow piece”) + -ling.

stripper

English

From the verb strip "to remove a covering" plus the agent suffix -er.

striptease

Origin

A combination of strip and tease.

strive

Old French

From Old French estriver ("to compete, quarrel"), from a Frankish root meaning "to exert oneself." The English verb picked up irregular past forms (strove, striven) by analogy with verbs like "drive" and "ride."

strobe

Origin

A shortened form of stroboscope.

stroboscope

Origin

From Ancient Greek στρόβος (stróbos, “whirl”) and Ancient Greek σκοπέω (skopéō, “examine, inspect, look to or into, consider”). From strobo- + scope.

stroganoff

Russian

Named after the Stroganov family, a wealthy Russian family historically linked to the settlement of Siberia.

Stroh

German

Borrowed from German Stroh.

stroke

Old English

From Old English strac, related to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to rub, stroke, or strike" — the same root that gives "strike."

stroll

German

Borrowed from German, from a dialectal word meaning "vagabond" or "rascal."

stroller

Origin

From stroll plus the agent suffix -er.

strong

Old English

From Old English strang, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "tight" or "stiff" — the same root behind "string" and "strict."

stronghold

Middle English

From Middle English strong-hold, a compound of strong and hold ("grip, control") — literally "a place held strongly."

strongly

Old English

From Old English stranglice, from strong plus -ly.

strongman

Origin

A compound of strong and man.

strongroom

Origin

strong + room

strongwoman

Origin

From strong + woman.

strop

Origin

Same as strap (which see); recorded in English since 1702. The verb sense referring to honing a sharp edge is recorded since 1842.

strophe

Origin

Borrowed from Latin stropha, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek στροφή (strophḗ, “a turn, bend, twist”). Compare strap and strop. Compare typologically rehearsal, rehearse (related to French herser (“to harrow”) << Latin hirpex, another meaning shift from the idea of turning).

stroud

Origin

Named after Stroud, a town in Gloucestershire, England, historically associated with wool production.

strout

Origin

From Middle English. See etymology of the corresponding sense of strut

structural

Origin · 1800

From structure plus the adjective-forming suffix -al, dating to the 19th century.

structurally

Origin

From structural + the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

structure

Latin

From Middle French structure, from Latin structura ("a building" or "a fitting together"), from struere ("to pile up, build") — the same root behind construct and instruct.

structured

Origin

From structure + the adjective-forming suffix -ed.

strudel

German

Borrowed from German Strudel, meaning "whirlpool" — a nod to the swirled, rolled shape of the pastry.

struggle

Middle English

From Middle English struglen, of uncertain origin, possibly related to Middle Dutch words meaning "to stumble" or "to trip."

strugglesome

Origin

From struggle + -some.

strum

Origin

A variant of the older word thrum, describing the rhythmic playing of stringed instruments.

strummer

Origin

From strum + -er.

strumpet

Latin

From Middle English strumpet, of uncertain origin, possibly linked to a Middle Dutch word for "to stalk" or the Latin stuprum ("violation").

strut

Old English

From Old English strutian ("to stand out stiffly, swell"), from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to be puffed up."

strychnine

Ancient Greek

From French strychnine, ultimately from Ancient Greek strykhnos, a name for a type of nightshade plant.

Stryker

Origin

The gurney name comes from the Stryker Corporation, founded by Homer Stryker. The military vehicle is named in honour of two American soldiers, Stuart Stryker and Robert Stryker, both Medal of Honor recipients.

stub

Old English

From Old English stybb, meaning "tree stump," later extended to any short, blunt remnant.

stubble

Latin

From Old French estoble, ultimately from Latin stipula, meaning "stalk" or "straw."

stubborn

Old English

From Middle English stiborne, of uncertain origin; possibly related to Old English stybb ("stump"), suggesting something as immovable as a tree stump.

stubbornly

Origin

From stubborn + the adverb-forming suffix -ly.