stalk
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[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
- (RP) enPR: stôk, IPA: /stɔːk/, SAMPA: /stO:k/
- (US) enPR: stôk, IPA: /stɔk/, SAMPA: /stOk/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA: /stɑk/, SAMPA: /stAk/
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Audio (US cot-caught merged) (file) - Homophones: stork (non-rhotic accents)
- Rhymes: -ɔːk
[edit] Etymology 1
Middle English stalke, diminutive of stale 'ladder upright, stalk', from Old English stalu 'wooden upright', from Proto-Germanic *stalōn (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 Welsh telm 'frond', Ancient Greek stélos 'beam', Old Armenian ստեղն (stełn) 'trunk, stalk').
[edit] Noun
stalk (plural stalks)
- The longish piece that supports the seed-carrying parts of a plant.
[edit] Translations
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[edit] Etymology 2
Middle English stalken, from Old English -stealcian (as in Old English bestealcian 'to move stealthily', stealcung 'stalking'), from Proto-Germanic *stalkōnan '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 *stalkōjanan 'to stalk, move stealthily', to a frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *stelanan 'to steal'.
[edit] Verb
stalk (third-person singular simple present stalks, present participle stalking, simple past and past participle stalked)
- 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.
[edit] Translations
- 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.
[edit] Noun
stalk (plural stalks)
- A particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone.
- (of wild animals) A hunt.
[edit] Related terms
[edit] References
- ^ Robert K. Barnhart and Sol Steinmetz, eds., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, s.v. "stalk2" (New York: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2006), 1057.
[edit] Etymology 3
1530, 'to walk haughtily', perhaps from Old English stealc 'steep', from Proto-Germanic *stelkaz, *stalkaz 'high, lofty, steep, stiff'; see above
[edit] Verb
stalk (third-person singular simple present stalks, present participle stalking, simple past and past participle stalked)
- (intransitive) To walk haughtily.
[edit] Translations
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[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Dutch
[edit] Verb
stalk
