Etymograph

English

stella

Stella comes from Latin stēlla ‘a star’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂stḗr1‘star’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stērlā1‘star’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstēlla2‘a star’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1939stella2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin stella
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English stella
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1939, Reed C. Rollins, Studies in the Genus Lesquerella: “Plants of this collection are several decimeters taller; the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂stḗrWiktionary, Latin stella‘star’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stērlāWiktionary, Latin stella‘star’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstēllaWiktionary, English stella‘a star’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1939stellaWiktionary, English stella. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1939, Reed C. Rollins, Studies in the Genus Lesquerella: “Plants of this collection are several decimeters taller; the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr ‘star’

star, disaster, sterling, asteroid, astral, asterisk, aster, 24 more

through Latin stēlla ‘a star’

constellation, 11 more

Today it means

noun A star-shaped structure.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “stella”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin stella. 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 *h₂stḗr / stella

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