sea stack

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)teg-“beam, pole, stick”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*stakkaz“pile of hay, haystack”
3. Old Norse · derived fromstakkr“a heap, pile; haystack; barn”
4. Middle English · inherited fromstak“a heap, pile, stack; large vertical column of rock in the sea”
5. English todaysea stack

From sea + stack (“a heap, pile; large vertical column of rock in the sea”); stack is derived from Middle English stak (“a heap, pile, stack; large vertical column of rock in the sea”) [and other forms], from Old Norse stakkr (“a heap, pile; haystack; barn”) (compare Faroese stakkur (“sea stack”)), from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz (“pile of hay, haystack”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (“beam, pole, stick”).

Words from the same roots