Etymology

overstand

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Today it means: To stand or insist too much or too long; overstay. Full definition →

Middle English overstonden ← Old English oferstandan
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overstand · verb, noun1

  1. Old English · inherited fromoferstandan“to stand over”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromoverstonden
  3. English todayoverstand

From Middle English overstonden, from Old English oferstandan (“to stand over”), equivalent to over- + stand. Cognate with Dutch overstaan (“to stand over”), German überstehen (“to stand through, survive”).

overstand · verb2

Blend of over + understand, coined in Rastafarianism before 1965.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.