stack

Pronunciation

• IPA: /stæk/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English stak, borrowed from Old Norse stakkr (“haystack”),^[2][3][4] compare Danish stak and Swedish stack,^[3][2] from Proto-Germanic *stakon-, a stake,^[3] related to Old English staca, a stake (see stake),^[2][5] and said to be from Proto-Indo-European *stog-, source also of Russian стог (stog, “haystack”).^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A pile, heap or group of things, especially a pile of grain in the sheaf: about 1300, in Havelok the Dane;^[2][3] earlier as a surname (1199).^[2]

Semantic evolution

A pile of firewood or sticks is from 1390.^[7] A number of chimneys or pipes standing together is from 1667,^[2][4] and a single chimney of a factory, locomotive or steamship from 1825.^[2][3] A set of library shelves is from 1879,^[7][3] a pile of aircraft circling at different heights from 1947,^[7] and in computing a store in which the last item in is the first out from 1960.^[7][3] The verb, to pile up grain, is from the early 14th century,^[3][2] and to arrange a deck of cards unfairly, stack the deck, from 1825.^[3][2] To stack up, to compare, is from 1903, from piles of poker chips.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – a pile of grain.^[2]
• early 14th century – to pile up (verb).^[3]
• 1667 – a stack of chimneys.^[2]
• 1825 – a chimney; to stack cards.^[2]
• 1879 – book stacks.^[7]
• 1947 – an aircraft stack.^[7]
• 1960 – a computer stack.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An orderly pile or heap, especially one in layers.
2. A large pile of hay or straw stored outdoors.
3. A chimney or group of chimneys, or a vertical exhaust pipe.
4. (often stacks) Shelves of books in a library.
5. (informal) A large amount: a stack of work.
6. (computing) An area of memory in which the item most recently stored is the first retrieved.

Verb

1. To arrange in a stack; to pile up.
2. To arrange cards or circumstances unfairly in one's favour.
3. To direct aircraft to circle at different heights while waiting to land.

Word family

• stackable
• stacker
• stackless
• bookstack
• haystack
• smokestack
• restack

Related words

• stacked
• unstack
• stake

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press