The story
- Proto-Germanic · derived from*steuraz“steer”
- Proto-Germanic · inherited from*stiurikaz“bullock”
- Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*stiurik
- Old English · inherited fromstīrc
- Middle English · inherited fromstirk
- English todaystirk
From Middle English stirk, sterke, styrke, from Old English stīrc, stȳrc, stȳric, stīorc (“calf, a stirk, a young bullock or a heifer”), from Proto-West Germanic *stiurik, from Proto-Germanic *stiurikaz (“bullock”), diminutive of Proto-Germanic *steuraz (“steer”), equivalent to steer + -ock. Cognate with Middle Low German sterke (“stirk”), Middle Dutch stierick ("stirk"; compare Modern Dutch sterke (“young cow”)), German Sterk, Stärke, Stark (“stirk”). More at steer.
Words from the same roots
Old Englishstīrc all →
Strickland
Proto-Germanic*steuraz all →
steer
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.