Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Proto-West Germanic word *standan

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *standaną
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-
Proto-Germanic *standaną
Old Norse standa
Proto-West Germanic *standan
Old English standan
English stand
The word's journey
From the same root
Old Church Slavonic стоꙗти (stojati) ← *steh₂-
Proto-Germanic *fastuz ← *steh₂-
Proto-Germanic *stallaz ← *steh₂-
Proto-Germanic *stāną ← *steh₂-
English understand ← standan
English grandstand ← stand
English standoff ← stand
English standpoint ← stand
English standstill ← stand

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the infinitive *standan for Proto-West Germanic.[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *standaną (“to stand”),[2] which Kroonen cites by its stem *standan-, Orel as *stanđanan and Fulk as *standanan.[3][4][5] In the northern West Germanic dialects the stressed *a before the nasal was nasalized, *stąndąn, which gave Old English standan beside stondan and Old Frisian stonda.[2]

Morphology

A strong verb of class VI.[6][7] Fulk calls Proto-Germanic *standanan a nasal-infixed present.[5] Kroonen and Fulk describe it as suppletive with an athematic verb, *stēn- in Kroonen's notation, which Fulk finds best attested in Old High German stān, stēn, and less often in Old Frisian, Old Saxon and Old Low Franconian, where the other forms are supplied by *standanan.[3][5] Wiktionary reconstructs that verb as a separate Proto-West Germanic word, *stān.[8] In Old High German the archaic past was -stuat or stuot, beside the newer stuont, which took the nasal over from the present.[9]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Old English, Old Frisian, Old Saxon and Old High German.[2][3] Boutkan and Siebinga take the by-form standa of Old Frisian stonda to point to a root vowel that was the merger of *a and *o before nasals, and note that eastern Old Frisian has this verb where western Old Frisian has stān.[10] In Old Dutch, Köbler has the simple verb only from the past stunt in the Middle Franconian Psalms, beside the prefixed anastandan and upstandan.[11][12] Old High German has stantan from the 8th century.[9]

Meanings

  1. to stand[2][1]

Old English also used the verb for "to remain, to last" and "to take place",[13] Old Frisian for "to be situated" and "to endure",[14] and Old High German for "to rise, to arise".[15]

Derivatives

  • *frastandan "to oppose; to understand", which Wiktionary reconstructs;[16] Old Saxon has farstandan (“to stay, to prevent, to understand”).[17]
  • *andastandan "to endure, to withstand", which Wiktionary reconstructs;[18] Berr lists Old Saxon antstandan (“to endure”).[19]
  • *standā "tun, barrel", which Wiktionary derives from the verb;[20] Old Saxon standa (“standing tub”) and Old High German stanta are recorded in glosses.[21][22]

Reflexes

  • Old English: standan (“to stand, to remain, to last”)[13]
  • Old Frisian: stonda (“to stand, to be situated, to last”)[14]
  • Old Saxon: standan (“to stand”)[19]
  • Old Dutch: standan (“to stand”)[11]
  • Old High German: stantan (“to stand, to remain, to rise”)[15]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *standan
  2. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 144
  3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 473
  4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 371
  5. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. §12.64
  6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. standan
  7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. standan
  8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *stān
  9. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. stantan
  10. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. stonda
  11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. standan
  12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. upstandan
  13. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. standan
  14. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. stonda
  15. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stantan
  16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *frastandan
  17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. farstandan
  18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *andastandan
  19. ^ a b Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 376
  20. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *standā
  21. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. standa
  22. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stanta

Related etymologies

  • *stain · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *beran · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *sōkijan · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *fimf · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *hail · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *hertā · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *busk · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *reht · also from Proto-Germanic
Cite this entry

“*standan.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/gmw-pro/*standan. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·