源etymfun
About

Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

start

/stɑːt/
The beginning of an activity.

    Etymology graph

    • inherited
    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
    React Flow
    Press enter or space to select a node. You can then use the arrow keys to move the node around. Press delete to remove it and escape to cancel.
    Press enter or space to select an edge. You can then press delete to remove it or escape to cancel.

    Click a node to zoom in · double-click to open it

    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English stert, from the verb sterten (“to start, startle”). See below.

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English sterten (“to leap up suddenly, rush out”), from Old English styrtan (“to leap up, start”), from Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan (“to startle, move, set in motion”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ter- (“to be stiff”). Cognate with Old Frisian stirta (“to fall down, tumble”), Middle Dutch sterten (“to rush, fall, collapse”) (Dutch storten), Old High German sturzen (“to hurl, plunge, turn upside down”) (German stürzen), Old High German sterzan (“to be stiff, protrude”). More at stare.

    Etymology 3

    From Middle English stert, start (“tail, handle, projection”), from Old English steort (“tail”), from Proto-West Germanic *stert, from Proto-Germanic *stertaz (“tail”). Cognate with Scots start, stairt (“side post, shaft, upright post”), Dutch staart (“tail”), German Sterz (“tail, handle”), Danish stjert (“tail of a bird”), Faroese stertur (“tail”), Icelandic stertur (“short horse tail”), Norn skjårt (“tail”), sterti (“tail of a large fish”), stjårt (“tail of a large fish”), Norwegian stjert (“tail of a bird”), Swedish stjärt (“tail, arse”).

    Etymology 4

    Variant of stark.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishstert
    • inheritedMiddle Englishsterten
      • inheritedOld Englishstyrtan “to leap up, start”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*sturtijan “to startle, move, set in motion”
          • derivedProto-Indo-European*(s)ter- “to be stiff”
          • derivedProto-Indo-European*

    Related: Old Frisian stirta, Middle Dutch sterten, Dutch storten, Old High German sturzen, German stürzen, Old High German sterzan, Scots start, Dutch staart, German Sterz, Danish stjert, Faroese stertur, Icelandic stertur, Norn skjårt, Norwegian stjert, Swedish stjärt

    Words built on it: Start Point

    Meanings

    noun
    1. The beginning of an activity.
    2. A sudden involuntary movement.
    3. The beginning point of a race, a board game, etc.
    4. An appearance in a sports game, horserace, etc., from the beginning of the event.
    5. A young plant germinated in a pot to be transplanted later.
    6. An initial advantage over somebody else; a head start.
    verb
    1. To set in motion.
    2. To begin.
    3. To ready the operation of a vehicle or machine.
    4. To put or raise (a question, an objection); to put forward (a subject for discussion).
    5. To bring onto being or into view; to originate; to invent.
    6. To have its origin (at), begin.
    adv
    1. Completely, utterly.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: start