stub

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)tew-
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*stubbaz
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*stubb
4. Old English · inherited fromstybb
5. Middle English · inherited fromstubbe“tree stump”
6. English todaystub

From Middle English stubbe (“tree stump”), from Old English stybb, stubb (“tree stump”), from Proto-West Germanic *stubb, from Proto-Germanic *stubbaz (compare Middle Dutch stubbe, Old Norse stubbr, Faroese stubbi (“stub”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tew-; compare steep (“sharp slope”). Doublet of stob. Sense extended in Middle English to similarly shaped objects. Verb sense “strike one’s toe” is recorded 1848; “extinguish a cigarette” 1927.

Words from the same roots