Etymologically
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stay

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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.
  • 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