Etymology

stuff

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Today it means: Miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects. Full definition →

Middle English stuf ← Latin stuffa ← Old French estofe
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stuff · noun1

  1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*stoppōn“to clog up, block, fill”
  2. Old High German · derived fromstoffōn
  3. Old French · derived fromestofe
  4. Latin · derived fromstuffa
  5. Middle English · inherited fromstuf
  6. English todaystuff

From Middle English stuf, stuffe, from Anglo-Latin stuffa and its etymon Old French estofe, estoffe, estuf, estuffe, stoffe, from estoffer, estofer (“to provide what is necessary, equip, stuff”), borrowed from Old High German stoffōn, from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn (“to clog up, block, fill”). More at stop.

stuff · verb2

  1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*stoppōn“to clog up, block, fill”
  2. Old High German · derived fromstoffōn
  3. Old French · derived fromestoffer
  4. Middle English · inherited fromstuffen“to equip, furnish”
  5. English todaystuff

From Middle English stuffen (“to equip, furnish”), borrowed from Old French estoffer, estofer (“to provide what is necessary, equip, stuff”), borrowed from Old High German stoffōn, from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn (“to clog up, block, fill”). More at stop.

Words from the same roots

Proto-West Germanic*stoppōn all →

stopgelbstoff

Middle Englishstuffen all →

stifle

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.