Etymograph

English

stour

Stour comes from Middle English store ‘tall, powerful’, from Proto-West Germanic *stōr ‘strong’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *stā-r-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stā-r-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stōraz1‘strong’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stōr1‘strong’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150stōr1‘tall, great, mighty, strong’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500store1‘tall, powerful’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1545stour1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English stour
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1545, Roger Ascham, Toxophilus: “A fenny gooſe, even as her fleſhe is blacker,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stā-r-Wiktionary, English stourreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stōrazWiktionary, English stour‘strong’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stōrWiktionary, English stour‘strong’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150stōrWiktionary, English stour‘tall, great, mighty, strong’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500storeWiktionary, English stour‘tall, powerful’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1545stourWiktionary, English stour. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1545, Roger Ascham, Toxophilus: “A fenny gooſe, even as her fleſhe is blacker,…”

Linked words

through Middle English store ‘tall, powerful’

store

Another origin of stour

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stā-‘to stand, place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stauraz‘pole, support’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350staurr‘a stake, pale’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stoure
  5. Englishtodaystour

Another origin of stour

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sturmaz‘storm’reconstructed
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*sturm‘storm, commotion, battle’reconstructed
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*estormareconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400estour
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400estur‘conflict, struggle’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stour‘conflict’
  7. Englishtodaystour

Today it means

adj Tall; big; stout.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “stour”. 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 *stā-r- / stour

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