Etymograph

English

strident

Strident comes from Latin strīdēns ‘uttering or making a shrill or harsh sound’, and goes back to strīdō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstrīdō1‘utter or make a shrill or harsh sound’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstrīdēns2‘uttering or making a shrill or harsh sound’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentstrident2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1922strident2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin stridens
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English strident
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, Eric Rücker Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance: “But as they were upon going forth, a trumpet…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstrīdōWiktionary, Latin stridens‘utter or make a shrill or harsh sound’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstrīdēnsWiktionary, English strident‘uttering or making a shrill or harsh sound’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentstridentWiktionary, English strident
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1922stridentWiktionary, English strident. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, Eric Rücker Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance: “But as they were upon going forth, a trumpet…”

Every English word from Latin strīdō

Today it means

adj Loud; shrill, piercing, high-pitched; rough-sounding.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “strident”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin stridens. 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 / Latin strīdō / strident

Shirt and support for this word