Etymograph

English

start

Start comes from Middle English sterten ‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’, from Old English styrtan ‘to leap up, start’, and ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan ‘to fall down, tumble’, whose earlier origin is uncertain.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sturtijan1‘to fall down, tumble’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150styrtan1‘to leap up, start’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterten1‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1599start1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English start
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sturtijanWiktionary, English start‘to fall down, tumble’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150styrtanWiktionary, English start‘to leap up, start’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stertenWiktionary, English start‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1599startWiktionary, English start. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ster- ‘to be stiff’

still, street, strength, stronger, strongly, strongest, straw, stern, cholesterol, stereo, throttle, torpedo, sterile, stare, strenuous, starve, sterility, 17 more

Another origin of start

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ter-‘to be stiff’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sturtijan‘to startle, move, set in motion’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150styrtan‘to leap up, start’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sterten‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’
  5. Englishtodaystart

Another origin of start

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ter-‘to be stiff’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)terd-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stertaz‘tail’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stertreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150steort‘tail’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stert‘tail’
  7. Englishtodaystart

Today it means

noun The beginning of an activity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “start”. 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 *sturtijan / start

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