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stirps

Etymology and origin of the Latin word stirps

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Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
Livius Andronicus

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈstɪrps][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈstirps][1]

Forms

stirps f (genitive stirpis); third declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2][3] It has been compared with Lithuanian stir̃pti (“to grow up”) and Lithuanian ster̃ptis (“to stiffen”), a possible but not compelling link, according to de Vaan.[2] Wiktionary and Köbler connect a root *sterp-, *ster- “stiff”, as in Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “solid”).[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Livius Andronicus.[4] Ennius uses it of a family stock.[3] Köbler dates Livius Andronicus 280/260–before 200 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

Its concrete sense was the stem of a tree or woody plant, especially the lower part with the roots, and also the stump left after cutting and a growing plant.[3] From this it came to mean the stock or race from which a person springs, as in Ennius and Accius, and a person's offspring or posterity.[3] Figuratively it was the root or origin of something, and Sallust says Carthage perished ab stirpe, utterly.[5]

Archaic Latin also treated it as masculine.[3] In medieval Latin it could be land being cleared for tillage.[6] exstirpō “to root out” gave English extirpate in the 1530s, and the noun itself gave English stirp “lineage” about 1500.[7]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.[4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a family stock.[3][4]
  • c. 1500 – English stirp is recorded.[7]
  • 1530s – English extirpate is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The stem (of a tree), with the roots.[3]
  2. A stump.[3]
  3. A woody plant.[3]
  4. Family, stock, race.[3]
  5. Offspring, posterity.[3]
  6. (figurative) The root, origin.[5]
  7. (Medieval Latin) Land under clearing.[6]

Word family

  • exstirpō
  • stirpitus
  • English extirpate
  • English stirp

Usage notes

Döderlein groups stirps with genus and gēns for a race traced upwards to its ancestors, against prōgeniēs and prōlēs, descendants.[8] Isidore says it is called so from the long line of a family.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  9. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
Cite this entry

“Stirps.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/stirps. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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