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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

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

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)