sturdy · adjective, noun1
- Vulgar Latin · derived from*exturdire
- Old French · derived fromestourdi“dazed”
- Middle English · inherited fromsturdy
- English todaysturdy
From Middle English sturdy, stourdy, stordy (“bold, valiant, strong, stern, fierce, rebellious”) (perhaps influenced by Middle English sture, stoure, stor (“strong, robust, harsh, stern, violent, fierce, sturdy”); see English stour), from Old French estourdi (“dazed”), form of estourdir, originally “to daze, to make tipsy (almost drunk)” (Modern French étourdir (“to daze, to make tipsy”)), from Vulgar Latin *exturdire. Latin etymology is unclear – presumably it is ex- + turdus (“thrush (bird)”), but how this should mean “daze” is unclear. A speculative theory is that thrushes eat leftover winery grapes and thus became drunk, but this meets with objections. Disease in cows and sheep is by extension of sense of “daze”, while sense of “strongly built” is of late 14th century, and relationship to earlier sense is less clear, perhaps from sense of a firm strike (causing a daze) or a strong, violent person.
Sturdy · proper noun2
- Middle English · derived fromstourdy“bold, valiant, reckless”
- English todaySturdy
A nickname from Middle English stourdy (“bold, valiant, reckless”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.