Etymograph

English

stow

Stow comes from Old English stōwian ‘to hold back, restrain’, from Proto-Germanic *stōōną ‘to stow, dam up’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand, place’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-1‘to stand, place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stōōną1‘to stow, dam up’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150stōwian1‘to hold back, restrain’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stowen1
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512stow1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English stow
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “His seconde hawke wexyd gery […] on the rode…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-Wiktionary, English stow‘to stand, place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stōōnąWiktionary, English stow‘to stow, dam up’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150stōwianWiktionary, English stow‘to hold back, restrain’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stowenWiktionary, English stow
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512stowWiktionary, English stow. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “His seconde hawke wexyd gery […] on the rode…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand, place’

state, system, post, stay, rest, stand, distance, assistant, assistance, stadium, constitution, instance, consistent, contest, establishment, establish, stable, assist, stability, instant, destination, substance, testimony, destiny, distant, resist, stem, stood, static, insist, persistent, consist, prostitution, stationary, prostitute, stud, persist, extant, substitution, stamina, 157 more

Today it means

verb To put something away in a compact and tidy manner, in its proper place, or in a suitable place.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “stow”. 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 *steh₂- / stow

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