stake

English has two words spelled stake: a pointed post, inherited from Old English, and a wager, of uncertain origin, perhaps a special use of the first.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /steɪk/^[4]

stake¹ pointed post

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English staca (“stake, post”),^[1][2][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *stakōn, source also of Old Norse stiaki, Middle Dutch stake and Dutch staak,^[2][1] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *steg- (“pole, stick”), related to stick.^[2][3][6] The Germanic word was borrowed into Romance, as Spanish estaca, and came back into English as attach.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A stout pointed stick or post: about 893 in the OED, before 899, in Alfred's translation of Orosius, in Barnhart.^[7][1]

Semantic evolution

The post to which a condemned person is bound to be burned is from about 1200,^[2][7] and the post for baiting a bear from the late 14th century.^[2] The verb, to fasten to a stake, is early 13th-century, to impale about 1400, and to mark off land with stakes from the early 14th century;^[2] stake a claim to land is American, by 1851, and figurative by 1876.^[2] Stake out, to keep a place under surveillance, is American, from 1942.^[2] Pull up stakes, to move away, alludes to tent stakes.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 893 – a post.^[7]
• c. 1200 – the stake for burning.^[2][7]
• early 14th century – to mark off land.^[2]
• 1851 – stake a claim.^[2]
• 1942 – stake out.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A strong wooden or metal post with a point at one end, driven into the ground as a support or marker.
2. (the stake) A post to which a person was tied to be burned alive.

Verb

1. To support or mark with stakes.
2. (stake out) To keep a place under watch.
3. (stake a claim) To declare one's right to something.

Word family

• stakeout

stake² wager; share

Etymology

It is of uncertain origin,^[2][3] probably a special use of stake, post, perhaps from the post on which a gambling wager was placed,^[1][8] though the OED points out there is no evidence of such a custom.^[2][6] Weekley suggests a tinge of the burning or baiting metaphor.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb, to risk or wager: 1530, in Palsgrave.^[1][7] The noun, that which is placed at hazard, is from the 1530s.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The prize in a contest is by the 1620s, and stakes, the money to be won in a horse race, by the 1690s (compare sweepstakes).^[2] An interest, something to gain or lose, is by the 1580s, hence have a stake in (1784).^[2] At stake, at hazard, is from about 1600.^[2]

Timeline

• 1530 – to wager.^[1]
• 1580s – an interest.^[2]
• c. 1600 – at stake.^[2]
• 1690s – stakes, prize money.^[2]
• 1784 – have a stake in.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A sum of money or something valuable risked on a bet; a wager.
2. A share or interest in a business or enterprise.
3. (stakes) Prize money, or a race or contest offering it.

Verb

1. To risk money or something valuable on an outcome.
2. To give financial support to.

Word family

• stakeholder
• sweepstakes

Related words

• stick
• attach
• stack

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press