stock English · revision 2681

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=862|origins=gem-pro *stukkaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /stɒk/, US /stɑːk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|stok]],^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|stocc|t=stump, post, stake; trunk of a tree; log]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*stukkaz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) the source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon stok, Dutch stok “stick, cane”, German Stock “stick” and Old Norse stokkr “block of wood, tree trunk”;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Old English stycce and German Stück “piece” are related.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Most scholars doubt that there are cognates outside Germanic.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline gives an extended form of [[ine-pro|*(s)tew-|alt=*(s)teu-|t=to push, knock]], while Boutkan prefers the root *sta- “to stand, be firm”.^(Etymonline) Old French estoc and Italian stocco are borrowings from Germanic.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb and the adjective are from the noun.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A tree trunk, the stump of a tree: Old English, 862.^(OED 1989) Middle English stocke is from probably before 1200, in Layamon.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The meaning “lineage, ancestry” is first found in the ''Ormulum'', probably before 1200, a figurative use of the trunk.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The stem in which a graft is set is from about 1300.^(Barnhart 1988) The ''stocks'', a wooden frame for punishing offenders, is from before 1325, from the sense “post, stake”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) From the trunk came the heavy main part of a tool, and the part of a gun held against the shoulder, from 1541.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The commercial senses are found originally only in English and their origin is uncertain:^(Barnhart 1988) a supply for future use is from 1428, a sum of money from probably 1419, and the capital of a company divided into shares from before 1692.^(Barnhart 1988) They may come from the idea of a trunk from which gains grow, or of a fixed foundation, or from an obsolete sense “money-box”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) Livestock, broth from boiled meat (1764) and a theatre company playing a fixed set of plays (1708) followed.^(Etymonline) The verb, “to supply with stock”, is from 1622,^(Barnhart 1988) and the adjective, “kept regularly in stock”, from before 1625;^(Barnhart 1988) “commonplace, trite”, as in ''a stock answer'', is first recorded in Swift in 1738.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Take stock in'', “to trust”, is from 1870.^(Etymonline) Compounds include ''stockbroker'' (1706), ''stock exchange'' (1773) and ''stock market'' (1809).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 862 – a tree trunk.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1200 – lineage.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1325 – the stocks; verb, to put in the stocks.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1428 – a supply for future use.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1541 – the stock of a gun.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1692 – a company's capital in shares.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1706 – ''stockbroker''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1738 – adjective, trite.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1764 – broth.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1809 – ''stock market''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A supply of goods kept for sale or use; [[inventory]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The [[capital]] of a company, divided into shares; a share or shares in it.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Farm animals; [[livestock]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A person's ancestry or family line: ''of Irish stock''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # A liquid made by boiling meat, fish or vegetables, used for soup.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The part of a rifle or other gun held against the shoulder.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # ''the stocks'': A wooden frame with holes for the feet, formerly used for punishment.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # A plant on which a graft is set; a plant of the genus Matthiola, grown for its scented flowers.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To keep a supply of for sale.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To provide with a stock: ''stock a lake with fish''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Kept regularly in stock: ''stock sizes''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Commonly used; [[conventional]] or trite: ''a stock phrase''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[stockage]]

+ * [[stocker]]

+ * [[stocklike]]

+ * [[overstock]]

+ * [[restock]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stocking]]

+ * [[stockade]]

+ * [[stocky]]

+ * [[stockpile]]

+ * [[livestock]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Separate words spelled ''stock'' include an obsolete thrusting sword, from French estoc,^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989) a geological mass of intrusive rock, from German Stock,^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) and an Old English and Scots word for a horn or trumpet.^(OED 1989) On the Isle of Wight ''stock'' meant “strong, muscular”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}