stir

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /stɜː/, US /stɝː/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English styrian (“to move, agitate”) (about 725, in Beowulf),^[2][3][4] from *sturjaną,^[2][4] cognate with Old Saxon farsturian, to overturn, Dutch storen and German stören, to disturb, and Old Norse styrr, disturbance.^[2][4][5] Barnhart finds no convincing cognates outside Germanic,^[2] while Etymonline traces it to a root meaning to turn, whirl (see storm).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To move, be active, pass into motion, and to agitate a liquid: about 725.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

To trouble or disquiet is from about 1160.^[2] To be alive is from the late 12th century, and to affect emotionally from the early 14th.^[3] Stir up is from the mid-14th century literally, and to rouse to action from the 1540s.^[3] The noun, a commotion or tumult, is from 1375,^[2][3] probably from Old Norse styrr,^[3] and movement or bustle from the 16th century.^[6] Stir-fry is attested from 1956 in writing on Chinese cookery.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – styrian, to move.^[2]
• c. 1160 – to disquiet.^[2]
• 1375 – a commotion (noun).^[2]
• 1540s – stir up, rouse.^[3]
• 1956 – stir-fry.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To move a spoon or similar tool round in a liquid to mix it.
2. To move slightly, or begin to move, as after sleep.
3. To arouse feeling or interest: to stir the imagination.
4. To cause trouble, with up.

Noun

1. An act of stirring.
2. A state of excitement or commotion.

Word family

• stirrer
• stirrable
• stirless
• stirlessly
• astir
• restir
• unstirred
• bestir

Related words

• storm

Usage notes

Stir, slang for prison (by 1835), is a separate word, probably from Romani sturiben, a prison.^[7][5]

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 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 Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com