stick

English has two words spelled stick, both from Old English: the noun, a slender piece of wood, and the verb, “to pierce, to adhere”.^[1][2] They are probably connected, the basic idea being one of piercing or pricking.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /stɪk/^[4]

stick¹ piece of wood

Etymology

The piece of wood is inherited from Middle English stikke,^[5][6] inherited from Old English sticca (“twig, rod, peg, spoon”),^[6][3][2] from Proto-West Germanic *stikkō,^[2] from the Germanic base *stik- (“to pierce, prick”),^[3][2] from Proto-Indo-European *steig- (“to stick; pointed”).^[6] It is cognate with Dutch stek “cutting”, German Stecken “staff” and Old Norse stika “stick, yardstick”.^[3][2][7] If so, it first meant a sharp stick, perhaps pointed for a purpose.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A short piece of wood, and a slender twig or branch: about 1000.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

A cudgel or staff used as a weapon is from the mid-12th century,^[6] as is sticks and stones, at first meaning every part of a building.^[6] A stick-shaped piece of rolled material, as of cinnamon, is from the late 15th century.^[6] The stick used to push or strike a ball in a game is from the 1670s, first in billiards.^[6] A stiff, awkward or dull person is from about 1800,^[6] a conductor's baton from 1849,^[6] and a gear lever from 1914.^[6] Hoad dates the general sense “object in long, slender form” to the 15th century.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – a piece of wood; a twig.^[3][8]
• mid-12th century – a cudgel, and sticks and stones.^[6]
• late 15th century – a stick of cinnamon.^[6]
• 1670s – a stick for a ball game.^[6]
• c. 1800 – a stiff, awkward person.^[6]
• 1849 – a conductor's baton.^[6]
• 1914 – a gear lever.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A long, slender piece of wood, as a twig cut from a tree.
2. A cane or walking stick; a club or baton.
3. A long, thin piece of something: a stick of celery.
4. An implement for striking a ball, as in hockey.
5. A gear lever or joystick.
6. (informal) Criticism or punishment: to take stick.

Word family

• stick figure
• stick insect
• walking stick
• yardstick
• drumstick
• joystick
• chopstick

stick² pierce; adhere

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English stiken,^[3][6] inherited from Old English stician (“to pierce, stab; to remain fixed”),^[6][2] from Proto-Germanic *stekaną (“to pierce, prick”),^[6][2] from Proto-Indo-European *steig- (“to stick; pointed”),^[6][2] also the source of Latin īnstīgāre (“to goad”) and of Greek stízein “to prick” and stigma.^[6][2] It is cognate with Dutch steken and German stechen “to stab”.^[6][5] Some have tried to connect it with the root of sting, but Boutkan finds “formal problems”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To stab or pierce with a weapon: before 900 in the OED,^[8] probably before 1200 as stiken in Layamon's Brut in Barnhart.^[3] Old English already had “to remain embedded, stay fixed”.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

From piercing came the sense of putting something where it will remain, with or without penetration.^[6] “To fasten in place” is from the late 13th century,^[6] and “to cause to adhere” from the 13th century.^[2] “To remain in the mind” is from about 1300,^[6] and “to persist, insist” from the mid-15th century.^[6] Stick out, “to protrude”, is from the 1560s.^[6] Slang stick around, “to remain”, is from 1912,^[6] stick it as rude advice by 1922,^[6] and sticking point from 1956.^[6] Sticky is from the late 17th century,^[1] and a sticky end is first found in a 1904 account of an American baseball game.^[1] The past tense is stuck.^[9][10]

Timeline

• before 900 – to stab, pierce.^[8]
• late 13th century – to fasten in place.^[6]
• c. 1300 – to stay in the mind.^[6]
• mid-15th century – to persist.^[6]
• 1560s – stick out.^[6]
• 1912 – stick around.^[6]
• 1956 – sticking point.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To pierce or puncture with something pointed; to stab.
2. To push a pointed thing into something.
3. To fasten or adhere with glue or a similar substance.
4. To remain attached or in place; to become fixed or jammed.
5. (informal) To put: stick it on the table.
6. stick to: to keep to a plan or principle.
7. (informal) To tolerate: I can't stick it.

Word family

• sticker
• sticky
• stuck
• stick-up
• stick-in-the-mud

Related words

• stake
• stitch
• stigma
• instigate
• distinguish
• etiquette
• ticket
• sting

Usage notes

In printing, a stick (composing stick) holds set type,^[6] and in the OED a separate stick is a measure of small eels, recorded from 1086.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ 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 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster