Etymologically
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stand

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /stænd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English standen, inherited from Old English standan (“to occupy a place; stand firm; continue; resist”),[2][3] past tense stōd,[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *standaną,[2][4] formed with a nasal suffix from the base of simpler forms such as Dutch staan and German stehen.[2][4] Its cognates include Old Saxon standan, Old High German stantan and Old Norse standa,[5][6] and Gothic has standan.[2][5] Watkins traces it to Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand”),[2][7] the root also of Latin stāre (“to stand”) and Greek ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to cause to stand”).[8][5] It is related to stead and stool.[5][9] The noun is partly a continuation of Old English stand (“a pause, delay”).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To be upright on one's feet, to occupy a place: Old English standan, past participle gestanden in Beowulf, about 725.[3]

Semantic evolution

“To exist, be present” is from about 1300, and “to cost” from the mid-14th century, compare Latin cōnstāre, the source of cost.[2] Stand back is from the late 14th century.[2] “To become a candidate for office” is from the 1550s.[2] “To encounter without flinching” is from the 1590s, “to endure, come through” from about 1600, and the weaker “to put up with” by the 1620s.[2] “To pay for as a treat” is from 1821.[2] The noun meant a place of standing in late Middle English, a holding of one's ground against an enemy from the 1590s, a platform for spectators from the 1610s, a piece of furniture to set things on from the 1690s, and a stall or booth from about 1500.[2] A growth of trees is a stand by 1868 in American English, and a stop on a touring performance from 1895.[2] Stand down is from the 1680s, of witnesses in court.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English standan (Beowulf).[3]
  • c. 1300 – to exist.[2]
  • mid-14th century – to cost.[2]
  • c. 1500 – noun, a stall.[2]
  • 1550s – to be a candidate.[2]
  • 1590s – noun, a defensive stand.[2]
  • 1610s – noun, a grandstand.[2]
  • 1821 – to pay for as a treat.[2]
  • 1868 – noun, a stand of trees.[2]
  • 1895 – noun, a stop on a tour.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To be or rise to an upright position on the feet.
  2. To be placed or situated; to remain upright or in force.
  3. To put up with; to tolerate; to withstand.
  4. To be a candidate: stand for election.
  5. To pay for, as a treat: stand someone a drink.
  6. To have a position or opinion: where do you stand?

Noun

  1. An act of standing; a halt or standstill.
  2. A defensive effort or a firm position on an issue: take a stand.
  3. A stall or booth for selling goods.
  4. A raised structure for spectators; a witness stand.
  5. A small table or rack on which things are placed.
  6. A group of growing trees or plants.

Word family

  • stander
  • bedstand
  • bookstand
  • cabstand
  • candlestand
  • handstand
  • hardstand
  • headstand

Usage notes

A separate stand, “an open tub, a barrel set on end”, from Middle Low German or Flemish stande, is recorded from about 1250 and survives in dialect.[5][10]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press