They come from Stilton?

September 1, 2006 7:54 PM

Why are they called "stilts"?

Etymology, history? This is an answer needed to satisfy a very curious little girl.

Asked on behalf of Mimi Smarypants, because really, what else was I gonna ask this week?

posted by SassHat to grab bag (8 comments total)

According to dictionary.com it comes from the Middle English stilte.
posted by quin at 8:12 PM on September 1, 2006

Here's a bit more from the OED:


stilt stilt, ... The Teut. root *stelt- (:-pre-Teut. *steld-) conjectured to mean `to walk stiffly', seems to be represented also in MHG. stolzen to limp, Sw. stulta to totter, stagger, and perh. (if the word be native Teut. ) in OFris. stult, LG. stolt, HG. stolz stately, proud (see stout a.). ]
posted by Espy Gillespie at 8:13 PM on September 1, 2006

Looking at your link, the person claims to have looked at the OED already, but that seems like as direct an answer as you could want.
posted by Espy Gillespie at 8:14 PM on September 1, 2006

Even more origins here.
posted by quin at 8:15 PM on September 1, 2006

From my Chambers Dictionary of Etymology:

n. Probably before 1300, crutch, in Sir Tristrem; later, one of two poles used in walking above the ground (before 1425); cognate with Middle Low German and Middle Dutch stelte stilt (Modern Dutch stelt, Old High German stelza (modern German Stelze), Swedish stylta and Danish stylte, from Proto-Germanic, *steltjón, Indo-European *steld-, extended from root *stel - standing (Pok.1019)
posted by slightlybewildered at 8:15 PM on September 1, 2006

Before the 'hat arrives with the full etymology -- though you'll find most of it here, I'll just note the cluster of st- words: stick, stile, stilt, stand, stalk, stem... and point here.

I'd be curious to know if 'walking on stilts' first applied to walking across embedded stilts above marshy ground or water before the whole strap-on thing (ooer).
posted by holgate at 8:22 PM on September 1, 2006

Online Etymology Dioctionaty:

c.1320, "a crutch," from P.Gmc. *steltijon (cf. M.L.G., M.Du. stelte "stilt," O.H.G. stelza "plow handle, crutch"), from PIE *stel- "to put, stand, place, cause to stand" (see stall (1)). Application to "wooden poles for walking across marshy ground, etc." is from c.1440. Meaning "one of the posts on which a building is raised from the ground" is first attested 1697. Stilted in the fig. sense of "pompous, stuffy" is first recorded 1820.
posted by cillit bang at 6:13 AM on September 2, 2006

I don't really have anything to add to the above etymologies, but I guess I'm puzzled by the whole thing. Here's the quote from Mimi that started this off:

Right before bed, my daughter, aka The Questioner, Ms. Interrogative, or Nora "Hey, You Know What?" Smartypants, asks me why stilts are called stilts. Since that night I have been to several dictionaries, hundreds of linguistic websites, and even scammed a look at the online OED from a librarian friend, and the answer is I DON'T FREAKING KNOW. Nora, please lay off the imponderables when you are supposed to be sleeping.

So she's seen the above etymologies, she presumably knows that it's a Germanic word that probably comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'put, stand, place, cause to stand'... what else is she looking for? "Well, Nora, it was brought to earth by a magic fairy who knew we needed a word for wooden things that help you stand really tall, and she knew the perfect word for those things was stilts, so that's what we call them today!"
posted by languagehat at 9:15 AM on September 2, 2006 [2 favorites]