sto

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈstoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈstɔː]^[1]

Forms

stō (present infinitive stāre, perfect active stetī, supine statum); first conjugation, impersonal in the passive^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sta-ē-je/o- (“to stand, be standing”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sth₂-eh₁-ie/o- (“to stand”), a stative present built on the root *steh₂-.^[2][1] Unlike the other verbs of this type, which belong to the second conjugation, it ended up in the first, and it shares its perfect and supine stems with sistō, the corresponding verb from the same root.^[1] De Vaan lists the related formations Latin inherited from Proto-Italic: a past participle *stato- “placed”, a noun *statu- “erecting”, a noun in *-þlo- and a nasal present *stane/o- “to place”.^[2]

Cognate with Umbrian stahu (“I stand”), Oscan staít (“stands”) and Faliscan sta (“stands”),^[2] and further with Sanskrit तिष्ठति (tíṣṭhati, “stands”), Ancient Greek ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to set, place”) and Old English standan (“to stand”).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius onwards.^[2] In Plautus a confused slave asks, nonne ego nunc sto ante aedis nostras? “am I not standing in front of our house right now?”^[3]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was to stand upright rather than sit or lie.^[3][4] From this it came to cover standing to fight and standing firm in battle, and, of a play, holding the stage, that is, succeeding.^[3] Things stood too: statues, trees, a spear stuck fast in its target, ships lying at anchor and pools of standing water.^[3] It meant to stop or halt, to take sides with someone, and to be situated somewhere.^[3]

Abstract uses followed: a city or state “stands” while it lasts, an opinion stands fixed (stat sententia), and stat with an infinitive meant “it is my fixed resolve”.^[3] With an ablative it meant to stand at a price, to cost, and per me stat quominus meant “it is my fault that … not”.^[3] In Medieval Latin it could mean simply to be, to be in a place or to live,^[1] a use that lies behind Spanish and Portuguese estar and, in part, French être.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for standing and for standing at a price.^[3][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a play that holds its place on the stage.^[3][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of troops standing in position.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil writes stat casus renovare omnis, “I am resolved to face every danger again”.^[3][5]
• 1755 – English printers adopt stet, “let it stand”.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To stand, be upright, stand up.^[3][4]
2. To stand and fight; to stand firm.^[3]
3. (of a play) To hold its place, succeed.^[3]
4. (of things) To stand, be set up; to stick fast.^[3]
5. (of ships) To lie at anchor, (of liquids) to be stagnant.^[3]
6. To stand still; to halt, stop.^[3]
7. To take sides (with), stand by.^[3]
8. To be situated, be placed.^[3]
9. To remain standing, last, endure.^[3]
10. (of opinions, resolves) To be fixed, stat (with infinitive) it is one's resolve.^[3]
11. To abide by (an agreement); to rest or depend (on).^[3]
12. per me stat It is due to me, it is my fault.^[3]
13. To cost, stand at (a price).^[3][1]
14. (Medieval Latin) To be; to be located; to live.^[1]

Word family

• abstō
• antestō
• astō
• circumstō
• cōnstō
• distō
• exstō
• īnstō
• interstō
• obstō
• perstō
• praestō

Related words

• sistō
• statuō
• īnstaurō
• English stet
• English stare decisis

Usage notes

A separate archaic verb stō “to steal”, recorded once, is traced to Proto-Indo-European *(s)teh₂y-; it is said to have died out because it sounded the same as the verb for “stand”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com