Etymologically
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stare

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /steə/, US /ster/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English staren, inherited from Old English starian (“to gaze fixedly”),[2][3][4][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *star- (“to be rigid”),[2][3][4][6] cognate with Middle Dutch stāren, Old High German starēn (modern German starren) and Old Norse stara,[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff”), as in Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “solid, stiff”).[3][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To gaze fixedly, be wide-eyed: about 725, in Beowulf.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The word did not at first imply rudeness.[3] Middle English staren is from about 1250, in The Owl and the Nightingale.[2] Of hair, to stand on end, it is from the 16th century.[4] The noun meant the power of sight in the late 14th century, a sense now obsolete, and a fixed gaze from about 1700.[3][7] To stare someone down is from 1848.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – to stare.[2]
  • c. 1250 – staren.[2]
  • late 14th century – the power of sight.[3]
  • 16th century – of hair, to stand on end.[4]
  • c. 1700 – a fixed gaze.[3][7]
  • 1848 – to stare down.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To look fixedly, often wide-eyed, sometimes rudely or with hostility.
  2. To stand out; to be obvious: to stare one in the face.
  3. Of hair or feathers, to stand on end, as from fear or illness.

Noun

  1. An intent, fixed gaze.

Word family

  • starer
  • staringly
  • outstare
  • stare down

Usage notes

Stare, an old name for the starling (about 725), is a separate word, from Old English stær.[7][3][5]

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press