English
startlement
From startle + -ment.
A compound of startle + -ment
Proto-West Germanic *startlōn
Old English steartlian ‘to kick with the foot, struggle, stumble’
Middle English startlen
English startle
Today it means
noun An instance of being startled; surprise.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “startlement”. 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 / startlement