English
startish
From start + -ish.
Formed from start + -ish
Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan ‘to fall down, tumble’
Old English styrtan ‘to leap up, start’
Middle English sterten ‘to leap up suddenly, rush out’
English start
Today it means
adj Easily startled; skittish or shy (said especially of a horse.)
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “startish”. 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 / startish