Etymograph

English

sted

Sted comes from Old English stede ‘place, spot, locality’, from Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis ‘standing, position’, and ultimately from *steh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-1‘to stand’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stéh₂tis2‘standing, position’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stadiz2‘place, location’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stadi2‘place’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150stede3‘place, spot, locality’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sted3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590sted3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English stede
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English sted
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, (please specify the book): “And false Duessa in her sted had borne”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis‘to stand’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stéh₂tisWiktionary, Old English stede‘standing, position’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stadizWiktionary, Old English stede‘place, location’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stadiWiktionary, Old English stede‘place’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150stedeWiktionary, English sted‘place, spot, locality’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stedWiktionary, English sted
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590stedWiktionary, English sted. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, (please specify the book): “And false Duessa in her sted had borne”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand’

state, post, system, stay, rest, stand, distance, assistant, assistance, stadium, constitution, instance, establishment, establish, stood, stable, assist, stability, consistent, instant, destination, substance, contest, destiny, distant, resist, static, testimony, insist, consist, prostitution, persistent, stem, stationary, stud, persist, extant, substitution, prostitute, stool, 154 more

through Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis ‘standing, position’

stasis, 10 more

through Proto-West Germanic *stadi ‘place’

stade

through Middle English sted

stead

Today it means

noun —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sted”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis, Old English stede. 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-Indo-European *steh₂- / sted

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