Etymology

strut

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Today it means: Of a peacock or other fowl: to stand or walk stiffly, with the tail erect and spread out. Full definition →

Middle English strouten ← Old English strūtian ← Proto-Germanic *strūtōną
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strut · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*streudʰ-“rigid, stiff”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*strūtōną
  3. Old English · inherited fromstrūtian“to project out; stand out stiffly; to exert oneself, struggle”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromstrouten
  5. English todaystrut

The verb is derived from Middle English strouten, struten (“to bulge, swell; to protrude, stick out; to bluster, threaten; to object forcefully; to create a disturbance; to fight; to display one's clothes in a proud or vain manner”) [and other forms], from Old English strūtian (“to project out; stand out stiffly; to exert oneself, struggle”), from Proto-Germanic *strūtōną, *strūtijaną (“to be puffed up, swell”), from Proto-Indo-European *streudʰ- (“rigid, stiff”), from *(s)ter- (“firm; strong; rigid, stiff”). The English word is cognate with Danish strutte (“to bulge, bristle”), Low German strutt (“stiff”), Middle High German striuzen (“to bristle; to ruffle”) (modern German strotzen (“to bristle up”), sträußen (obsolete, except in Alemannic)); and compare Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌿𐍄𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌻 (þrutsfill, “leprosy”), Old Norse þrútinn (“swollen”). The noun is derived from the verb. Noun sense 2 (“instrument for adjusting the pleats of a ruff”) appears to be due to a misreading of a 16th-century work which used the word stroout (strouted (“caused (something) to bulge, protrude, or swell; strutted”)).

strut · noun, verb2

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*strūtōną
  2. English todaystrut

The origin of sense 1 of the noun (“beam or rod providing support”) is unknown; it is probably ultimately from Proto-Germanic *strūtōną, *strūtijaną (“to be puffed up, swell”): see further at etymology 1. The English word is cognate with Icelandic strútur (“hood jutting out like a horn”), Low German strutt (“rigid, stiff”), Norwegian strut (“nozzle, spout”), Swedish strut (“paper cornet”). The verb is derived from sense 1 of the noun. Sense 2 of the noun (“act of strutting”) is derived from the verb: see above.

strut · adjective3

Probably an archaic past participle of strut (“to (cause something to) bulge, protrude, or swell”), now replaced by strutted: see etymology 1.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.