stretch English · revision 5818

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 900}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /stretʃ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|strecchen]], [[inh|ang|streccan|t=to stretch out, prostrate]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*strakjaną]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which also gave Dutch strekken and German strecken.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to German strack “taut” and, according to Barnhart, to Russian strogij “strict”;^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline suggests a link with the root of [[stark]] or with PIE [[ine-pro|*strenk-|t=tight, narrow]] (see [[string]]),^(Etymonline) and Hoad calls the origin uncertain.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To prostrate oneself, or extend one's limbs lying down: about 900 in the OED; before 899 in Barnhart, in Alfred's translation of Bede.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To extend the arms or wings is from about 1200, and to lay out a dead body from the early 13th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Straining something too far, at first as a torture, is from the early 13th century,^(Etymonline) and pulling taut or lengthening by force from the late 14th.^(Etymonline) The noun meant an expanse of land from about 1175,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) an act of stretching from 1541 (exaggeration in the 1540s),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) an unbroken period of some activity from 1661,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and stretching the limbs from weariness from 1712, in Steele.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) A term in prison is thieves' slang from 1821,^(Etymonline) and the straight of a racecourse, as in ''home stretch'', is by 1838.^(Etymonline) The ''stretch limo'' is a late 20th-century term.^(Roach et al. 2011)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 900 – to lie at full length.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1175 – an expanse of land.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 13th century – to strain too far.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1541 – an act of stretching.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1661 – an unbroken period.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1821 – a prison term (slang).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1838 – a racecourse straight.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become longer or wider by pulling.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To extend one's body or limbs to full length.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To extend over an area or period: ''the desert stretches for miles''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To make something go further than it should; to [[strain]] or exaggerate.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A continuous area or length: ''a stretch of road''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A continuous period of time.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An act of stretching the body.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' A term in [[prison]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[stretchability]]

+ * [[stretchable]]

+ * [[stretchy]]

+ * [[prestretch]]

+ * [[backstretch]]

+ * [[outstretch]]

+ * [[overstretch]]

+ * [[stretchout]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stretcher]]

+ * [[straight]]

+ * [[stark]]

+ * [[string]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}