Etymograph

English

staredown

From stare + down.

A compound of stare + down

Proto-Indo-European *ster- ‘barren, infertile’

Proto-Germanic *starjaną ‘to be fixed, be rigid’

Proto-West Germanic *starēn ‘to gaze, stare’

Old English starian ‘to stare’

Middle English staren ‘to look fixedly’

English stare

Old English dūne ‘down’

Middle English doun

English down

Today it means

noun A game or confrontation in which two individuals intently gaze at each other, until the other individual is forced to blink or turn away.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “staredown”. 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 / staredown

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