English
stack
Stack comes from Old Norse stakkr ‘a barn’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *stogʰ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stogʰ-1reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stakkaz2‘a barn’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350stakkr2‘a barn’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stack2
- Englishearliest quotation 1631stack2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *stakkaz, which cites Kroonen, Kluge, Pokorny
- 2 Wiktionary, English stack
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1631, Francis Bacon, III. Century. [Experiments in Consort Touching the Reflexion: “There was againſt euery Pillar, a Stacke of Billets,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stogʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *stakkaz, which cites Kroonen, Kluge, Pokornyreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stakkazWiktionary, English stack‘a barn’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350stakkrWiktionary, English stack‘a barn’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stackWiktionary, English stack
- Englishearliest quotation 1631stackWiktionary, English stack. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1631, Francis Bacon, III. Century. [Experiments in Consort Touching the Reflexion: “There was againſt euery Pillar, a Stacke of Billets,…”
The story
The data structure sense is a calque of Dutch stapel, introduced by Edsger W.
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *stakkaz ‘a barn’
Today it means
noun A large pile of hay, grain, straw, or the like, larger at the bottom than the top, sometimes covered with thatch.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “stack”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *stakkaz. 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-Indo-European *stogʰ- / stack