Etymograph

English

stollen

Stollen comes from Old High German stollo ‘prop, post’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *stel- ‘to put, place, locate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stel-1‘to put, place, locate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stullô1‘support, post’reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050stollo1‘prop, post’
  4. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350stolle1
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentStollen2
  6. Englishtodaystollen2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, German Stollen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English stollen

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stel-Wiktionary, German Stollen‘to put, place, locate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stullôWiktionary, German Stollen‘support, post’reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050stolloWiktionary, German Stollen‘prop, post’
  4. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350stolleWiktionary, German Stollen
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentStollenWiktionary, English stollen
  6. EnglishtodaystollenWiktionary, English stollen

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *stel- ‘to put, place, locate’

local, location, allow, locate, install, lieu, stall, stole, stalk, loco, locus, apostle, stale, locator, stool, epistle, locative, stela, stele, apostolate, stell, stolid, 29 more

Today it means

noun A traditional German cake eaten at Christmas time, made with nuts, raisins and other dried fruits.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “stollen”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for German Stollen. 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 *stel- / stollen

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