stalk

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English [edit]

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Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Middle English stalke, diminutive of stale 'ladder upright, stalk', from Old English stalu 'wooden upright', from Proto-Germanic *stalǭ (compare Middle Low German stal, stale 'chair leg'), variant of *steluz, stelōn 'stalk' (compare Old English stela, Dutch steel, German Stiel, Danish stilk), from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (compare Albanian shtalkë (“crossbeam, board used as a door hinge”), Welsh telm (“frond”), Ancient Greek stélos 'beam', Old Armenian ստեղն (stełn, “trunk, stalk”)).

Noun [edit]

stalk (plural stalks)

  1. The longish piece that supports the seed-carrying parts of a plant.
Translations [edit]
the longish piece that supports the seed-carrying parts of a plant

Etymology 2 [edit]

From Middle English stalken, from Old English -stealcian (as in Old English bestealcian (“to move stealthily”), stealcung (“stalking”)), from Proto-Germanic *stalkōną 'to move stealthily' (compare Dutch stelkeren, stolkeren 'to tip-toe, tread carefully', Danish stalke (“to high step, stalk”), Norwegian dialectal stalka 'to trudge'), from *stalkaz, stelkaz (compare Old English stealc 'steep', Old Norse stelkr, stjalkr 'knot (bird), red sandpiper'), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)telg, *(s)tolg- (compare Middle Irish tolg (“strength”), Lithuanian stalgùs (“stiff, defiant, proud”)).[1]

Alternate etymology connects Proto-Germanic *stalkōną 'to stalk, move stealthily', to a frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *stelaną 'to steal'.

Verb [edit]

stalk (third-person singular simple present stalks, present participle stalking, simple past and past participle stalked)

  1. To approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer.
    • Sir Walter Scott
      As for shooting a man from behind a wall, it is cruelly like to stalking a deer.
    • 1907, Robert Chambers, chapter 1/2, The Younger Set[1]:
      […] presently Selwyn lay prone upon the nursery floor, impersonating a ladrone while pleasant shivers chased themselves over Drina, whom he was stalking.
  2. To (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment (Wikipedia).
Translations [edit]
to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer
to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun [edit]

stalk (plural stalks)

  1. A particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone.
  2. (of wild animals) A hunt.
Related terms [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Robert K. Barnhart and Sol Steinmetz, eds., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, s.v. "stalk2" (New York: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2006), 1057.

Etymology 3 [edit]

1530, 'to walk haughtily', perhaps from Old English stealc 'steep', from Proto-Germanic *stelkaz, *stalkaz 'high, lofty, steep, stiff'; see above

Verb [edit]

stalk (third-person singular simple present stalks, present participle stalking, simple past and past participle stalked)

  1. (intransitive) To walk haughtily.
Translations [edit]
to walk haughtily

Anagrams [edit]

Dutch [edit]

Verb [edit]

stalk

  1. first-person singular present indicative of stalken
  2. imperative of stalken
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