stick

pronunciation

How to pronounce stick in British English: UK [stɪk] word uk audio image

How to pronounce stick in American English: US [stɪk] word us audio image

Noun:

implement consisting of a length of wood
a small thin branch of a tree
a lever used by a pilot to control the ailerons and elevators of an airplane
informal terms of the leg
marijuana leaves rolled into a cigarette for smoking
threat of a penalty
Verb:

fix, force, or implant
stay put (in a certain place)
cause to protrude or as if to protrude
stick to firmly
be or become fixed
endure
be a devoted follower or supporter
be loyal to
cover and decorate with objects that pierce the surface
fasten with an adhesive material like glue
fasten with or as with pins or nails
fasten into place by fixing an end or point into something
pierce with a thrust using a pointed instrument
pierce or penetrate or puncture with something pointed
come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation
saddle with something disagreeable or disadvantageous
be a mystery or bewildering to

Word Origin

stick: stick: Stick ‘piece of wood’ [OE] and stick ‘fix, adhere’ [OE] come from the same Germanic source: the base *stik-, *stek-, *stak- ‘pierce, prick, be sharp’ (which also produced English attach, stake, stitch, stockade, and stoke). This in turn went back to the Indo-European base *stig-, *steig-, whose other descendants include Greek stígma (source of English stigma) and Latin stīgāre ‘prick, incite’ (source of English instigate [16]) and stinguere ‘prick’ (source of English distinct, extinct, and instinct).From the Germanic base was derived a verb, source of English stick, which originally meant ‘pierce’. The notion of ‘piercing’ led on via ‘thrusting something sharp into something’ and ‘becoming fixed in something’ to ‘adhering’. The same base produced the noun *stikkon, etymologically a ‘pointed’ piece of wood, for piercing, which has become English stick.Yet another derivative of the base was Old English sticels ‘spine, prickle’, which forms the first element of the fish-name stickleback [15] – etymologically ‘prickly back’.=> attach, distinct, extinct, instigate, instinct, stake, stigma, stimulate, stitch, stockade, stoke, style

stick (n.): Old English sticca "rod, twig, peg; spoon," from Proto-Germanic *stikkon- "pierce, prick" (cognates: Old Norse stik, Middle Dutch stecke, stec, Old High German stehho, German Stecken "stick, staff"), from PIE *steig- "to stick; pointed" (see stick (v.)). Meaning "staff used in a game" is from 1670s (originally billiards); meaning "manual gearshift lever" first recorded 1914. Alliterative connection of sticks and stones is recorded from mid-15c.; originally "every part of a building." Stick-bug is from 1870, American English; stick-figure is from 1949.

stick (v.): Old English stician "to pierce, stab, transfix, goad," also "to remain embedded, stay fixed, be fastened," from Proto-Germanic *stik- "pierce, prick, be sharp" (cognates: Old Saxon stekan, Old Frisian steka, Dutch stecken, Old High German stehhan, German stechen "to stab, prick"), from PIE *steig- "to stick; pointed" (cognates: Latin instigare "to goad," instinguere "to incite, impel;" Greek stizein "to prick, puncture," stigma "mark made by a pointed instrument;" Old Persian tigra- "sharp, pointed;" Avestan tighri- "arrow;" Lithuanian stingu "to remain in place;" Russian stegati "to quilt"). Figurative sense of "to remain permanently in mind" is attested from c. 1300. Transitive sense of "to fasten (something) in place" is attested from late 13c. Stick out "project" is recorded from 1560s. Slang stick around "remain" is from 1912; stick it as a rude item of advice is first recorded 1922. Related: Stuck; sticking. Sticking point, beyond which one refuses to go, is from 1956; sticking-place, where any thing put will stay is from 1570s. Modern use generally is an echo of Shakespeare.