stay

Pronunciation

• IPA: /steɪ/^[1]

stay¹ to remain

Etymology

The verb “to remain” is inherited from Middle English steyen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman estai-, a stem of Old French ester (“to stand, stay”),^[2][3][4] from Latin stāre (“to stand”),^[2][5][3] from Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand, make or be firm”).^[2][5] It is related to stand, state and staid.^[3][6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To halt, come to a stop: 1440, in the Promptorium Parvulorum.^[3] Etymonline also gives the mid-15th century for “to detain, hold back”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense “to postpone, suspend” is from the 1520s.^[2][7] The meaning “to remain”, rather than go away, is recorded from the 1570s,^[2][3] though a surname of the late 14th century suggests it earlier.^[2] “To live somewhere as a guest” is from the 1550s, and the command stay! from the 1580s.^[2] The noun meant a halt from 1537, a stay of proceedings from 1542, and a visit from 1538.^[3] Stay put is American, by 1834.^[2]

Timeline

• 1440 – to halt (Promptorium Parvulorum).^[3]
• 1520s – to postpone, in law.^[2]
• 1537 – noun, a halt.^[3]
• 1538 – noun, a visit.^[3]
• 1542 – a stay of proceedings.^[3]
• 1550s – to stay as a guest.^[2]
• 1570s – to remain.^[2]
• 1834 – stay put.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To continue to be in a place or condition; to remain.
2. To live somewhere for a time as a guest.
3. To stop or pause; to wait.
4. To stop or check; to postpone.
5. (law) To suspend an order or proceeding.
6. To satisfy for a time: stay one's hunger.

Noun

1. A short period of residence; a visit.
2. (law) A suspension or postponement of proceedings or of an execution.
3. A halt or check.

stay² support

Etymology

The support is borrowed from Old French estaie (“a piece of wood used as a support”), with the verb estaiier (“to prop”) (modern French étayer),^[2][3][4] a word of Germanic origin.^[8][4] Barnhart derives it from Frankish *staka (“support”),^[3] and Klein from Middle Dutch staeye.^[6] It is related to stake^[3][8] and stay³.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A support, prop: early 14th century according to Etymonline,^[2] about 1515 according to Barnhart, who dates the verb “to prop” to 1423.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The plural stays, a corset, is from 1608, so called because stays were made in two pieces laced together.^[3] In sport the verb came to mean “to hold out to the end”, of horses by 1834,^[2] and stay the course (1858) and staying power (1855) come from the racecourse.^[2]

Timeline

• early 14th century – a support.^[2]
• 1423 – verb, to prop.^[3]
• 1608 – stays, a corset.^[3]
• 1834 – to hold out in a race.^[2]
• 1858 – stay the course.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A support or brace.
2. A strip of bone, plastic or metal stiffening a garment, such as a collar.
3. (plural) A corset.

Verb

1. To prop up or support.
2. To strengthen or sustain in spirit.

stay³ mast rope

Etymology

The rope is inherited from Middle English stei, inherited from Old English stæg (“rope supporting a mast”),^[3][2][9] from Proto-Germanic *stagaz,^[2] from a Germanic verb meaning “to be firm”,^[4] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *stak- (“to stand, place”).^[2] Its relatives include Dutch stag and Old Norse stag,^[2][3] and it is related to steel.^[4][8] French étai and Spanish estay were taken from Germanic.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A rope supporting a mast: late Old English stæg, before 1100.^[3] The Middle English form stei is from 1294–95.^[3]

Semantic evolution

By the 1530s the word was used of other supporting ropes.^[2] The verb “to put a ship on the other tack” is from before 1613, and “to secure with stays” from 1627.^[3][10]

Timeline

• before 1100 – late Old English stæg.^[3]
• 1294–95 – stei.^[3]
• 1530s – other supporting ropes.^[2]
• before 1613 – verb, to change tack.^[3]
• 1627 – verb, to secure with stays.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (nautical) A heavy rope or wire bracing a mast or spar.
2. A rope used to steady or guide.

Verb

1. (nautical) To put a ship on the opposite tack.
2. (nautical) To secure a mast with stays.

Related words

• stand
• state
• staid
• stake
• steel
• mainstay

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary calls stay the least specific of stay, remain, wait, abide, tarry, linger and sojourn, though it can suggest that the person is a guest.^[11]

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 y z 27 28 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ 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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin