streetstreet

Street comes from Middle English strete, from Old English strēt ‘street’, from Proto-West Germanic *strātu, an early borrowing from Late Latin (via) strāta ‘paved (road)’, from strātus, past participle of sternō ‘to spread, pave’.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterh₃-¹‘to stretch out, extend, spread’reconstructed
2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsternō¹‘stretch out, spread, pave’
3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstrātus¹
4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CE(via) strāta¹‘paved (road)’
5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strātu¹‘street’reconstructed
6. Anglian Old Englishmodernstrēt¹‘street’
7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strete¹‘a road or path’
8. Englishearliest quotation 1619street¹

1. ¹ Wiktionary, English street
2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1619, XII. To Sir James Crofts. Antwerp.: “There are few places on this ſide the Alps…”.