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stat

Etymology and origin of the English word stat

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Stat, immediately, is a shortened Latin word; stat, a statistic, is a clipping of statistic.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /stæt/[4]

stat1 immediately

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing, Clipping
First attested
late 19th century
Borrowed from
Latin statim
Ultimate origin
Latin (statim)

Etymology

The medical word is borrowed from Latin statim (“immediately”) in shortened form,[1][2][5] an adverb that first meant “to a standstill”, a fossilized accusative of a lost noun related to Ancient Greek στάσις (stásis, “a standing still”) (see station and stead).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Immediately, in medical use: the late 19th century in the NODE, before 1970 in Barnhart.[2][1] Collins notes it in prescriptions.[5]

Timeline

  • late 19th century – stat, immediately.[2]
  • before 1970 – stat (Barnhart's date).[1]

Modern meaning

Adverb

  1. (medicine) At once; without delay.

Adjective

  1. (medicine) Immediate.

stat2 statistic

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1961

Etymology

The statistic is a colloquial clipping of statistic or statistics.[6][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A statistic: 1961.[3][6]

Timeline

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A statistic; in the plural, stats, statistics.

Usage notes

Etymonline's stat, an instrument that keeps something stationary (before 1970), is from the ending -stat of instrument names such as heliostat;[6][2] stat is also short for photostat (1960).[3] In north-west Devon dialect stat was a form of stoat, and also a clot, with a verb to clot.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  2. ^ a b c d e Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Stat.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/stat. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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