Etymograph

English

stretching

Stretching comes from Middle English strecching.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strecching1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1859stretching1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English stretching
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, Victor Regnault: “[Skins] must be submitted to several washings, treadings, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strecchingWiktionary, English stretching
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1859stretchingWiktionary, English stretching. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, Victor Regnault: “[Skins] must be submitted to several washings, treadings, and…”

Every English word from Middle English strecching

Another origin of stretching

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)treg-‘rigid, stiff’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strakaz‘stretched, straight’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strak‘stretched, straight’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strakkjan‘to stretch’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*strakkjandīreconstructedpresent participle of *strakkjan
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150streċċende
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strecchinge
  8. Englishtodaystretching

Today it means

noun The act by which something is stretched.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “stretching”. 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 / Middle English strecching / stretching

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