Etymograph

English

storge

Storge comes from Ancient Greek στοργή ‘affection, love’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sterg- ‘to cover’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterg-1‘to cover’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEστέργω1stérgō‘to love’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEστοργή1storgḗ‘affection, love’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1600storge1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English storge
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1600, Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]: “[The virgins] haue choſen to expreſſe their ſeuerall qualities,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterg-Wiktionary, English storge‘to cover’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEστέργωWiktionary, English storgestérgō‘to love’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEστοργήWiktionary, English storgestorgḗ‘affection, love’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1600storgeWiktionary, English storge. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1600, Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]: “[The virgins] haue choſen to expreſſe their ſeuerall qualities,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sterg- ‘to cover’

starch

Today it means

noun Natural affection or love, especially of parents for their children.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “storge”. 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 *sterg- / storge

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