Etymologically
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stiff

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /stɪf/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English stif, inherited from Old English stīf (“rigid, not easily bent”),[2][3][4][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz (“inflexible”),[2][3][4] cognate with Middle Low German stīf, Dutch stijf and German steif,[2][3][4] and related to Latin stīpō (“to press, pack”) and stīpes (“stake, post”).[2][3][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rigid, not flexible: 1000 in Old English.[2][8] Middle English stif is probably from before 1200, in Layamon.[2]

Semantic evolution

In physical senses it often suggested the stiffness of death from about 1200.[3] Of the body, lacking suppleness, it is from about 1305,[8] of wind, strong and steady, from the 13th century,[4] and of a slope, steep and difficult, from the 18th.[4] Of machinery, hard to move, it is from 1848.[8] The noun, a corpse, is American slang from 1859,[3][7] a racehorse sure to lose from 1890, and a working man from 1930.[3] The stiff upper lip is North American in origin, from the early 19th century.[7] The verb, to fail to tip, is American English by 1934, from restaurant and hotel workers.[3] Latin stīpō is also the source of constipate and, through Spanish, stevedore.[7]

Timeline

  • 1000 – stīf, rigid.[8]
  • c. 1305 – of the body, stiff.[8]
  • 13th century – of wind, strong.[4]
  • early 19th century – stiff upper lip.[7]
  • 1859 – a stiff, a corpse.[3]
  • by 1934 – to stiff, fail to tip (US).[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Not easily bent; rigid.
  2. Not moving or working easily: a stiff handle.
  3. Painful or difficult to move: a stiff neck.
  4. Formal, awkward or unrelaxed.
  5. Thick; not fluid.
  6. Severe, harsh or difficult: a stiff punishment, a stiff climb.
  7. Strong or powerful: a stiff breeze, a stiff drink.

Adverb

  1. Completely, extremely: bored stiff.

Noun

  1. (slang) A corpse.
  2. (slang) A dull, formal person; a fellow; a tramp.
  3. (slang) A poor tipper.

Verb

  1. (informal) To tip someone inadequately or not at all.
  2. (informal) To cheat someone of something owed.

Word family

  • stiffish
  • stiffly
  • stiffness
  • overstiff
  • stiffen
  • unstiff
  • stiff-arm
  • stiff-necked
  • constipate
  • stevedore
  • stipulate

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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