Etymograph

English

forstop

Forstop comes from Old English forstoppian ‘to stop up, close’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stoppōn1‘to stop, close, push, prick’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150stoppian2‘to stop’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150forstoppian3‘to stop up, close’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forstoppen3
  5. Englishtodayforstop3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English stoppian
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English forstoppian
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English forstop

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stoppōnWiktionary, Old English stoppian‘to stop, close, push, prick’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150stoppianWiktionary, Old English forstoppian‘to stop’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150forstoppianWiktionary, English forstop‘to stop up, close’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forstoppenWiktionary, English forstop
  5. EnglishtodayforstopWiktionary, English forstop

Formed from for- + stop

Proto-Indo-European *pro- ‘before, in front of’

Proto-Germanic *fra- ‘off, away’

Proto-West Germanic *fra- ‘forms verbs with the sense of "away from" or…’

English for-

Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn ‘to stop’

Old English stoppian ‘to stop’

Middle English stoppen ‘to stop’

English stop

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp- ‘to push, to stick’

type, typical, steep, stubborn, stub, timbre, stupendous, timpani, tympanum, 18 more

through Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn ‘to stop, close, push, prick’

stuff, 3 more

Today it means

verb To stop up; block; clog; obstruct; to stifle (the breath); to dam up (a watercourse).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “forstop”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English stoppian, Old English forstoppian. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn / forstop

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