Etymograph

English

startle

Startle comes from Old English steartlian ‘to kick with the foot, struggle, stumble’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *startlōn.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*startlōn1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150steartlian2‘to kick with the foot, struggle, stumble’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500startlen2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1660startle2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English steartlian
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English startle
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1660, Edward Hyde, The Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon: “it would blast all their hopes, and startle all…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*startlōnWiktionary, Old English steartlianreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150steartlianWiktionary, English startle‘to kick with the foot, struggle, stumble’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500startlenWiktionary, English startle
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1660startleWiktionary, English startle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1660, Edward Hyde, The Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon: “it would blast all their hopes, and startle all…”

Formed from start + -le

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

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *startlōn

Today it means

verb To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “startle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English steartlian. 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 *startlōn / startle

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