Etymologically
Log in

stumble

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈstʌmbəl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English stomblen, also stumblen,[2][3][4] probably borrowed from Old Norse *stumla, an unrecorded Old Norse verb.[5][6][7][2] It corresponds to dialectal Norwegian stumla (“to grope and stumble in the dark”), Danish stumle and Swedish stomla, also stambla.[7][5][8][3] The Old Norse verb would be a parallel to the synonymous and cognate stumra (“to stumble”),[7][5][6] and its root is an ablaut variant of Proto-Germanic *stam- (“to check, impede”),[7][6][8] the source of stamerian (“to stammer”) (English stammer), of stem "to check", and of German stumm and Dutch stom (“dumb, silent”).[8][6][3] The b is a glide sound: the original forms without it, stomlen and stumlen, are recorded only from the 15th century.[7][2] Barnhart and Etymonline think the word may also have been influenced by stumpen (“to stumble”),[8][3] and the MED compares Middle Dutch stommelen (“to overturn”) for one of its senses.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To trip morally, to fall into sin: 1303, in Robert Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.[7][8] The literal sense, to miss one's footing, follows about 1325.[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The physical and moral senses grew side by side from the start.[3][7] To stumble at the threshold, to meet an ominous check at the outset, is found in Piers Plowman (1377).[7] Etymonline dates the sense "to blunder or hesitate in speaking" to the early 15th century and "to move unsteadily" to the mid-15th;[3] the OED's first records are 1530 and before 1500.[7] Wycliffe used a transitive stumble down, to bring to ruin.[3] Under the influence of the Bible, stumble also came to mean to take offence or find an obstacle to belief (1526), and stumbling-block, in Tyndale's translation of Romans (1526), first meant a cause of moral downfall, translating Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον (skándalon), and since the 1590s any obstacle.[7][3][8] The sense "to come upon by chance" appeared in 1555.[7][3] The noun, from 1547, first meant something that causes stumbling, then a blunder (about 1600) and a partial fall (1640s).[3][7][8] Johnson (1755) also had a transitive verb, to make to trip or to obstruct.[9] In East Yorkshire dialect stummle meant to puzzle or perplex,[10] and in African-American slang of the 1940s stumble meant to get into serious trouble.[11]

Timeline

  • 1303 – to trip morally, to sin.[7][8]
  • c. 1325 – to miss one's footing.[7][8]
  • 1377 – to stumble at the threshold.[7]
  • before 1500 – to walk unsteadily.[7]
  • 1526 – to take offence, and stumbling-block, in Tyndale's Bible.[7][3][8]
  • 1530 – to blunder in speech or action.[7]
  • 1547 – noun, a stumbling.[7][8]
  • 1555 – to come upon by chance.[7][3]
  • before 1612 – noun, a blunder or slip.[7]
  • 1944 – US slang, to get into trouble.[11]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To trip or lose one's footing while walking or running: She stumbled on the loose step.[12][4][7]
  2. To walk unsteadily or clumsily.[12][4][7]
  3. To make mistakes or hesitate in speaking or acting: He stumbled over the names of the guests.[12][4][7]
  4. stumble on, upon or across: to find or meet by chance.[12][4][7]
  5. To do wrong; to fall into sin or error.[12][4][7]

Noun

  1. A trip or false step while walking or running.[12][4][7]
  2. A blunder or slip.[12][4][7]

Word family

  • stumbler
  • stumblingly
  • stumblebum

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  7. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  11. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins