Etymology

stark

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Today it means: Hard, firm; obdurate. Full definition →

Middle English stark ← Old English stearc ← Proto-West Germanic *stark
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stark · adjective, adverb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)terg-“rigid, stiff”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*starkuz“stiff, strong”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*stark
  4. Old English · inherited fromstearc
  5. Middle English · inherited fromstark
  6. English todaystark

From Middle English stark, starc, from Old English stearc, starc (“stiff, rigid, unyielding, obstinate, hard, strong, severe, violent”), from Proto-West Germanic *stark, from Proto-Germanic *starkuz (“stiff, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terg- (“rigid, stiff”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian sterc (“strong”), Dutch sterk (“strong”), Low German sterk (“strong”), German stark (“strong”), Danish stærk (“strong”), Swedish stark (“strong”), Norwegian sterk (“strong”), Icelandic sterkur (“strong”). Related to starch. In the phrase stark naked: an alternation of Middle English stert naked, from stert (“tail”), a literal parallel to the modern butt naked.

stark · verb2

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)terg-“rigid, stiff”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*starkōną
  3. Old English · inherited fromstearcian“to stiffen, become hard, grow stiff or hard”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromstarken
  5. English todaystark

From Middle English starken, from Old English stearcian (“to stiffen, become hard, grow stiff or hard”), from Proto-Germanic *starkōną, *starkēną (“to stiffen, become hard”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terg- (“rigid, stiff”). Cognate with German erstarken (“to strengthen”).

Stark · proper noun, noun3

* As a Scottish and English surname, from the adjective stark. * As a Jewish, German, and Swedish surname, from stark (“strong”), related to the above. This surname also appears in Czech and Slovak as Štark.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.