Etymology

Stalin

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Today it means: Synonym of Hitler (“a dictatorial person”). Full definition →

Russian Ста́лин ← German Stahl ← Proto-Germanic *stahlą
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*stahlą“steel”
  2. German · derived fromStahl“steel”
  3. Russian · borrowed fromСта́лин
  4. English todayStalin

Borrowed from Russian Ста́лин (Stálin), from сталь (stalʹ, “steel”) + -ин (-in, possessive suffix), from German Stahl (“steel”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stahlą (“steel”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*stahlą all →

steel

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.