English
stock
Stock comes from Middle English stok ‘tree trunk’, from Old English stocc, from Proto-West Germanic *stokk, from Proto-Germanic *stukkaz ‘tree-trunk’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stukkaz1‘tree-trunk’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stokk1reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150stocc1‘log, trunk’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stok1‘tree trunk’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588stock1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English stock
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “UUhat, ſhall I call thee brother? No, a foe,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stukkazWiktionary, English stock‘tree-trunk’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stokkWiktionary, English stockreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150stoccWiktionary, English stock‘log, trunk’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stokWiktionary, English stock‘tree trunk’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588stockWiktionary, English stock. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “UUhat, ſhall I call thee brother? No, a foe,…”
The story
Modern senses are mostly referring either to the trunk from which the tree grows (figuratively, its origin and/or support/foundation), or to a piece of wood, stick, or rod. The senses of "supply" and "raw material" arose from a probable conflation with steck (‘an item of goods, merchandise’) or the use of split tally sticks consisting of foil or counterfoil and stock to capture paid taxes, debts or exchanges.
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with stock, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- ‘to be sharp’
through Proto-Germanic *stikaną ‘to stick’
14 more relatives in the full family tree
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Another origin of stock
- Italianc. 1300–presentstoccare
- Italianc. 1300–presentstoccata‘hit with a sword, especially a tuck’
- Englishtodaystock
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Today it means
noun A store or supply.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “stock”. 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-Germanic *stukkaz / stock