Etymograph

English

stay

Stay comes from Middle English steyen, from Old French estayer ‘to fix, prop up, support, stay’, from estaye ‘a prop, stay’.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400estaye1‘a prop, stay’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400estayer1‘to fix, prop up, support, stay’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500steyen1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1551stay1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English stay
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1551, Thomas More, (please specify the Internet Archive page): “They were able to read good authors without any…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400estayeWiktionary, English stay‘a prop, stay’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400estayerWiktionary, English stay‘to fix, prop up, support, stay’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500steyenWiktionary, English stay
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1551stayWiktionary, English stay. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1551, Thomas More, (please specify the Internet Archive page): “They were able to read good authors without any…”

The story

Influenced by Old English stæġ ("a stay, rope"; see below). Sense of "remain, continue" may be due to later influence from Old French ester, esteir (‘to stand, be, continue, remain’), from Latin stāre (‘stand’), from the same Proto-Indo-European root above; however, derivation from this root is untenable based on linguistic and historical grounds. An alternative etymology derives Old French estaye, estaie, from Frankish *stakā, *stakō (‘stake, post’), from Proto-Germanic *stakô (‘stake, bar, stick, pole’), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (‘rod, pole, stick’), making it cognate with Old English staca (‘pin, stake’), Old English stician (‘to stick, be placed, lie, remain fixed’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with stay, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand (up)’

  • system ← sisteme ← systēma ← σύστημα ← σῠνίστημῐ
  • state ← stat ← estat ← status ← *status
  • post ← postis ← *postis ← *h₂pó-sth₂-i-s
  • rest ← reste ← reste ← rester ← restō
  • stand ← stonden ← standan ← *standan ← *standaną
  • distance ← distantia ← distāns ← distō ← stō
  • constitution ← constitucioun ← constitucion ← cōnstitūtiō ← cōnstituō
  • assistant ← assistent ← assister ← assistō ← sistō
  • consistent ← cōnsistēntem ← cōnsistō ← *kom- ← *kom
  • contest ← contester ← contestor ← testor ← testis
  • stood ← stod ← stōd ← *stōþ ← *standaną
  • assistance ← assistentia ← assistō ← sistō ← *sistō

185 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of stay

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-‘to stand (up)’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500staeye‘a prop, stay’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400estaye
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stay‘a stay (rope)’
  5. Englishtodaystay

Another origin of stay

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-‘to stand’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stek-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stagą‘stay, rope’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stagreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150stæġ‘stay, a rope supporting a mast’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stay‘a stay (rope)’
  7. Englishtodaystay

Another origin of stay

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steygʰ-‘to walk, climb’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stéygʰeti‘to be walking’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stīganą‘to rise’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*staigijaną‘to raise up, to elevate’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*staigijan‘to raise up, elevate’reconstructed
  6. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*staigil‘steep’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150stǣġel‘steep, abrupt’
  8. Old Englishc. 450–1150*stǣġereconstructedapocopated variant of stǣġel
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*steȝereconstructed
  10. Englishtodaystay

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Today it means

verb To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “stay”. 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 / Old French estaye / stay