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stocking (n.)

"close-fitting garment covering the foot and lower leg," 1580s, from stock "leg covering, stocking" (late 15c.), from Old English stocu "sleeve," related to Old English stocc "trunk, log" (see stock (n.1)). Probably so called because of a fancied resemblance of legs to tree trunks, or a reference to the punishing stocks. Cognates include Old Norse stuka, Old High German stuhha, from the same Proto-Germanic source. Restriction to women's hose is 20c. As a receptacle for Christmas presents, attested from 1853; hence stocking stuffer first recorded 1945. Stocking-feet "without shoes" is from 1802.

Entries related to stocking

stock (n.1)

Old English stocc "stump, post, stake, tree trunk, log," also "pillory" (usually plural, stocks), from Proto-Germanic *stauk- "tree trunk" (source also of Old Norse stokkr "block of wood, trunk of a tree," Old Saxon, Old Frisian stok, Middle Dutch stoc "tree trunk, stump," Dutch stok "stick, cane," Old High German stoc "tree trunk, stick," German Stock "stick, cane;" also Dutch stuk, German Stück "piece"), from an extended form of PIE root *(s)teu- (1) "to push, stick, knock, beat" (see steep (adj.)).

Meaning "ancestry, family" (late 14c.) is a figurative use of the "tree trunk" sense (as in family tree). This is also the root of the meaning "heavy part of a tool," and "part of a rifle held against the shoulder" (1540s). Meaning "person as dull and senseless as a block or log" is from c. 1300; hence "a dull recipient of action or notice" (1540s).

Meaning "framework on which a boat was constructed" (early 15c.) led to figurative phrase on stocks "planned and commenced" (1660s). Taking stock "making an inventory" is attested from 1736. Stock, lock, and barrel "the whole of a thing" is recorded from 1817. Stock-still (late 15c.) is literally "as still as a tree trunk."

leatherstocking (n.)
also leather-stocking, 1701, "a sock made of leather," from leather (n.) + stocking (n.). As "a wearer of socks made of leather," usually meaning "an American frontiersman," 1823, in reference to Natty Bumppo, nicknamed "Leatherstocking," the central character in J.F. Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales."
stockinet (n.)
elastic, machine-made fabric used for undergarments, 1824, from stocking + diminutive ending -et.

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Definitions of stocking from WordNet

stocking (n.)
close-fitting hosiery to cover the foot and leg; come in matched pairs (usually used in the plural);
stocking (n.)
the activity of supplying a stock of something;
he supervised the stocking of the stream with trout
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near stocking

stock-broker

stock-car

stock-holder

Stockholm

stockinet

stocking

stockpile

stocks

stocky

stockyard

stodgy

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