Etymology

stir

S1T1I1R1

Today it means: To disturb the relative position of the particles (of a liquid or similar) by passing an object through it. Full definition →

Middle English stiren ← Old English styrian ← Proto-West Germanic *sturjan
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stir · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)twerH-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*(s)twr̥H-yé-ti?
  3. Proto-Germanic*sturjaną
  4. Proto-West Germanic*sturjan
  5. Old Englishstyrian
  6. Middle Englishstiren
  7. English todaystir

From Middle English stiren, sturien, steren, from Old English styrian (“to be in motion, move, agitate, stir, disturb, trouble”), from Proto-Germanic *sturiz (“turmoil, noise, confusion”), related to Proto-West Germanic *staurijan (“to destroy, disturb”). Cognate with Old Norse styrr (“turmoil, noise, confusion”), German stören (“to disturb”), Dutch storen (“to disturb”).

stir · noun2

  1. Sanskrit · derived fromआतिष्ठति“stand or remain by”
  2. Romani · borrowed fromstariben“prison”
  3. English todaystir

From Romani stariben (“prison”), nominalisation of (a)star (“seize”), causative of ast (“remain”), probably from Sanskrit आतिष्ठति (ātiṣṭhati, “stand or remain by”), from तिष्ठति (tiṣṭhati, “stand”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.