stain

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*steyh₂-“to stiffen”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*stainaz“stone”
3. Proto-Norse · derived fromᛊᛏᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ
4. Old Norse · derived fromsteina“to stain, colour, paint”
5. North Germanic · derived from
6. Middle English · inherited fromsteinen
7. English todaystain

From Middle English steinen, steynen (“to stain, colour, paint”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse steina (“to stain, colour, paint”), from steinn (“stone, mineral blue, colour, stain”), from Proto-Norse ᛊᛏᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ (stainaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”), from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”). Cognate with Old English stān (“stone”). More at stone. Replaced native Middle English wem (“spot, blemish, stain”), from Old English wamm (“spot, stain”). In some senses, influenced by unrelated Middle English disteynen (“to discolor, remove the colour from"; literally, "de-colour”), from Anglo-Norman desteindre (“to remove the colour from, bleach”), from Old French destaindre (“to remove the color from, bleach”), from des- (“dis-, de-, un-”) + teindre (“to dye”), from Latin tingo.

Words from the same roots