Etymograph

English

strand

Strand comes from Old English strand ‘strand, sea-shore, shore’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃- ‘to broaden, spread out’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterh₃-1‘to broaden, spread out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)trAnt-1‘strand, border, field’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strandō1‘edge, rim, shore’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strand1reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150strand1‘strand, sea-shore, shore’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strand1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1557strand1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English strand
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1557, Virgil, The Second Boke of Virgiles Aenæis: “A woman that wandring in our coaſtes hath bought…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterh₃-Wiktionary, English strand‘to broaden, spread out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)trAnt-Wiktionary, English strand‘strand, border, field’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strandōWiktionary, English strand‘edge, rim, shore’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strandWiktionary, English strandreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150strandWiktionary, English strand‘strand, sea-shore, shore’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strandWiktionary, English strand
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1557strandWiktionary, English strand. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1557, Virgil, The Second Boke of Virgiles Aenæis: “A woman that wandring in our coaſtes hath bought…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃- ‘to broaden, spread out’

street, straw, sternum, prostrate, stratum, stroma, stratus, 10 more

Today it means

noun The shore or beach of the sea or ocean.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “strand”. 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- / strand

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