stout (adj.)
c. 1300, "proud, valiant, strong," from Old French estout "brave, fierce, proud," earlier estolt "strong," from a Germanic source from West Germanic *stult- "proud, stately, strutting" (source also of Middle Low German stolt "stately, proud," German stolz "proud, haughty, arrogant, stately"), from PIE root *stel- "to put, stand, put in order," with derivatives referring to a standing object or place.
Meaning "strong in body, powerfully built" is attested from late 14c., but has been displaced by the (often euphemistic) meaning "thick-bodied, fat and large, bulky in figure," which is first recorded 1804. Original sense preserved in figurative phrase stout-hearted (1550s). Related: Stoutly; stoutness.
stout (n.)
1670s, "strong beer or ale," from stout (adj.). Later especially, and now usually, "porter of extra strength" (by 1762).
updated on August 16, 2018
Dictionary entries near stout
story-book
story-telling
stound
stoup
stour
stout
stove
stove-pipe
stow
stowaway
STP