English
stake-driver
From stake + driver; so called because one of its notes resembles the sound made in driving a stake into the mud.
Proto-Indo-European *stog-
Proto-Germanic *stakô
Proto-West Germanic *stakō
Old English staca ‘pin, tack, stake’
Middle English stake ‘a stake’
English stake
Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ-
…
Proto-West Germanic *drīban ‘to drive’
Old English drīfan ‘to drive’
Middle English driven ‘to drive’
Middle English drivere
English driver
The story
From stake + driver; so called because one of its notes resembles the sound made in driving a stake into the mud.
Today it means
noun An American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus).
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “stake-driver”. 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 / stake-driver