stale的词源

英文词源

stale: stale: [13] Something that is stale has etymologically been allowed to ‘stand’ – so that it is no longer fresh. The word comes from Old French estale ‘stationary’, a derivative of estaler ‘halt’ (from which English gets the verb stall). And this in turn goes back ultimately to the prehistoric Germanic base *sta- ‘stand’. Stale originally denoted wine, beer, etc that had ‘stood’ long enough for the sediment to clear (‘If mead is well sod [boiled] and stale it is liking to the taste’, John de Trevisa, De proprietatibus rerum 1398), and it was not until the early 16th century that derogatory connotations of lack of freshness began to creep in.
=> stall, stand
stale (adj.): early 13c., "freed from dregs or lees" (of ale, wine, etc.), probably literally "having stood long enough to clear," ultimately from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet); probably via Old French estal "placed, fixed position," from Frankish *stal- "position" (see stall (n.1)). Cognate with Middle Dutch stel "stale" (of beer and old urine). Originally a desirable quality (in beer and wine); the meaning "not fresh" is first recorded late 15c. Figurative sense (of immaterial things) "old and trite, hackneyed" is recorded from 1560s. As a noun, "that which has become tasteless by exposure," hence "a prostitute" (in Shakespeare, etc.). Related: Staleness.
stale (v.): mid-15c., from stale (adj.). Related: Staled; staling.

来源于史前日耳曼语stel-(静止的,站立的),可追溯至原始印欧语sta-(站)。

词根词缀： -sta-站立,放置 + le

该词的英语词源请访问找单词词源英文版：stale 词源，stale 含义。

可能来自古法语 estal,存放的，固定位置的，来自 Proto-Germanic*stallaz,放置，固定位置，来自 PIE*stel,放置，站立，词源同 stall,stand.引申比喻义久放的，陈腐的，污浊的。