Etymology

stifle

stif·le
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Today it means: To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) to die by preventing breathing; to smother, to suffocate. Full definition →

Middle English stuflen ← Old French estofer ← Vulgar Latin *stuppāre
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stifle · verb, noun1

  1. Pre-Greek · derived from
  2. Ancient Greek · derived fromστύπη
  3. Latin · derived fromstuppa“coarse flax, tow”
  4. Vulgar Latin · derived from*stuppāre
  5. Old French · derived fromestofer
  6. Middle English · derived fromstuffen“to kill by suffocation; to stifle from heat; to extinguish, suppress (body heat, breath, humour, etc.); to deprive a plant of the conditions necessary for growth, choke”
  7. Middle English · inherited fromstuflen“to have difficulty breathing due to heat, stifle; to suffocate by drowning, drown”
  8. English todaystifle

The verb is derived from Late Middle English stuflen (“to have difficulty breathing due to heat, stifle; to suffocate by drowning, drown”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain. Also found in Middle English forstyflyd (“stifled, choked”, past participle). Perhaps derived from Middle English stuffen (“to kill by suffocation; to stifle from heat; to extinguish, suppress (body heat, breath, humour, etc.); to deprive a plant of the conditions necessary for growth, choke”) + -len (frequentative suffix). Stuffen is derived from Old French estofer, estouffer (“to choke, strangle, suffocate; (figuratively) to inhibit, prevent”) [and other forms] (modern French étouffer), a variant of estoper, estuper (“to block, plug, stop up; to stiffen, thicken”) (modern French étouper (“to caulk”)), influenced by estofer (“to pad, stuff; to upholster”) (modern French étoffer). Estoper is derived from Vulgar Latin *stuppāre, from Latin stuppa (“coarse flax, tow”) (as a stuffing material; from Ancient Greek στύπη (stúpē), στύππη (stúppē) (compare στυππεῖον (stuppeîon)); probably from Pre-Greek) + -āre. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a derivation from Old Norse stífla (“to dam; to choke, stop up”) “appears untenable on the ground both of form and sense”. The noun is derived from the verb.

stifle · noun, verb2

  1. Old French · derived fromestive“leg”
  2. Anglo-Norman · derived fromestive“leg”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromstifle“joint between the femur and tibia of a quadruped”
  4. English todaystifle

The noun is derived from Middle English stifle (“joint between the femur and tibia of a quadruped”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, probably derived from Anglo-Norman estive (“leg”), and Old French estive (“leg”) (compare Old French estival (“boot, shoe”)). The verb is derived from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.