Etymograph

English

stramineous

Stramineous comes from Latin strāmineus ‘straw’, from Proto-Indo-European *stérh₃mn̥ ‘that which is strewn’, and ultimately from *sterh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterh₃-1‘to spread, scatter, strew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stérh₃mn̥1‘that which is strewn’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*strāmen1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstrāmen2‘straw’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstrāmineus2‘straw’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1624stramineous2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin stramen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English stramineous
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “Their wits indeed serve them to that sole purpose,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterh₃-Wiktionary, Latin stramen‘to spread, scatter, strew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stérh₃mn̥Wiktionary, Latin stramen‘that which is strewn’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*strāmenWiktionary, Latin stramenreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstrāmenWiktionary, English stramineous‘straw’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstrāmineusWiktionary, English stramineous‘straw’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1624stramineousWiktionary, English stramineous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “Their wits indeed serve them to that sole purpose,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃- ‘to spread, scatter, strew’

street, straw, strand, sternum, prostrate, stratum, stroma, stratus, 9 more

Today it means

adj Pertaining to or made of straw; having little value, insubstantial.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “stramineous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin stramen. 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 *sterh₃- / stramineous

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