*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of stun

Inherited from Middle English stonen, stone (“to astonish, stun, numb”, also stoneyen), probably either directly or indirectly from Anglo-Norman estoner (“to stun, astonish”), from Late Latin *stunāre, from Frankish *stu

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

The condition of being stunned. · That which stuns; a shock; a stupefying blow. · A person who lacks intelligence. · The effect on the cue ball where the ball is hit without topspin, backspin or sidespin.

verb

To incapacitate; especially by inducing disorientation or unconsciousness. · To shock or surprise. · To hit the cue ball so that it slides without topspin or backspin (and with or without sidespin) and continues at a natural angle after contact with the object ball · To enter a stunned state.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Inherited from Middle English stonen, stone (“to astonish, stun, numb”, also stoneyen), probably either directly or indirectly from Anglo-Norman estoner (“to stun, astonish”), from Late Latin *stunāre, from Frankish *stunōn (“to thunder, crash”) or perhaps from an unattested Latin *extonāre (“to thunder out, make a thunderous sound”), from tonāre ("to thunder"; compare Latin attonāre). An alternative etymology derives stonen from Old English stunian (“to smash, thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *stunōn. See also astonish, astound. Compare Swedish stöna (“to moan, groan”), Danish stønne (“to moan, groan”), Icelandic stynja (“to moan”), Occitan estonar (“to surprise”), and French étonner (“to surprise”), and more distantly, Dutch steunen (“to groan; support”), German stöhnen (“to groan, moan”), German staunen (“to be astonished, be amazed, marvel at”), and Russian стонать (stonatʹ), стена́ть (stenátʹ, “to moan, groan”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*(s)tenh₂-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentionstonenenm
  • Cognate mentionattonola
  • Inherited-form mentionstunianang · to smash, thunder
  • Inherited-form mention*stunōngmw-pro
  • Cognate mentionstönasv · to moan, groan
  • Cognate mentionstønneda · to moan, groan
  • Cognate mentionstynjais · to moan
  • Cognate mentionestonaroc · to surprise
  • Cognate mentionétonnerfr · to surprise
  • Cognate mentionsteunennl · to groan; support
  • Cognate mentionstöhnende · to groan, moan
  • Cognate mentionstaunende · to be astonished, be amazed, marvel at
  • Cognate mentionстонатьru

This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)tenh₂-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "yesno",
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "stonen",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "lit": "",
        "pos": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": "",
        "id": "to stun",
        "sc": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English stonen"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "stonen",
        "id": "to stun"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English stonen"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "xno",
        "3": "estoner",
        "t": "to stun, astonish"
      },
      "expansion": "Anglo-Norman estoner (“to stun, astonish”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "*stunō",
        "4": "*stunāre"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin *stunāre"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frk",
        "3": "*stunōn",
        "t": "to thunder, crash"
      },
      "expansion": "Frankish *stunōn (“to thunder, crash”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "m+",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "",
        "3": "*extonāre",
        "t": "to thunder out, make a thunderous sound"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin *extonāre (“to thunder out, make a thunderous sound”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "attono",
        "3": "attonāre"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin attonāre"
    },
    {
      "name": "gl",
      "args": {
        "1": "\"to thunder\"; compare Latin <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"la\">attonāre</i>"
      },
      "expansion": "(\"to thunder\"; compare Latin attonāre)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "stunian",
        "t": "to smash, thunder"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English stunian (“to smash, thunder”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*stunōn"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *stunōn"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "stöna",
        "t": "to moan, groan"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish stöna (“to moan, groan”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "stønne",
        "t": "to moan, groan"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish stønne (“to moan, groan”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "stynja",
        "t": "to moan"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic stynja (“to moan”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "oc",
        "2": "estonar",
        "t": "to surprise"
      },
      "expansion": "Occitan estonar (“to surprise”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "étonner",
        "t": "to surprise"
      },
      "expansion": "French étonner (“to surprise”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "steunen",
        "t": "to groan; support"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch steunen (“to groan; support”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "stöhnen",
        "t": "to groan, moan"
      },
      "expansion": "German stöhnen (“to groan, moan”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "staunen",
        "t": "to be astonished, be amazed, marvel at"
      },
      "expansion": "German staunen (“to be astonished, be amazed, marvel at”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ru",
        "2": "стонать"
      },
      "expansion": "Russian стонать (stonatʹ)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "stonen",
      "stonen#Middle_English:_to_stun"
    ],
    [
      "stone",
      "stone#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "stoneyen",
      "stoneyen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "estoner",
      "estoner#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "*stunāre",
      "Reconstruction:Latin/stuno"
    ],
    [
      "*stunōn",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/stunōn"
    ],
    [
      "tonāre",
      "tono#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "Latin",
      "w:Latin"
    ],
    [
      "attonāre",
      "attono#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "stonen",
      "stonen#Middle_English:_to_stun"
    ],
    [
      "stunian",
      "stunian#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*stunōn",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/stunōn"
    ],
    [
      "astonish",
      "astonish#English"
    ],
    [
      "astound",
      "astound#English"
    ],
    [
      "stöna",
      "stöna#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "stønne",
      "stønne#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "stynja",
      "stynja#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "estonar",
      "estonar#Occitan"
    ],
    [
      "étonner",
      "étonner#French"
    ],
    [
      "steunen",
      "steunen#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "stöhnen",
      "stöhnen#German"
    ],
    [
      "staunen",
      "staunen#German"
    ],
    [
      "стонать",
      "стонать#Russian"
    ],
    [
      "стена́ть",
      "стенать#Russian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The condition of being stunned.",
        "That which stuns; a shock; a stupefying blow.",
        "A person who lacks intelligence.",
        "The effect on the cue ball where the ball is hit without topspin, backspin or sidespin."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable",
        "Newfoundland"
      ],
      "recordId": "331da2ead0066e97184e80915d5fb49c092109894e211cbfcb44d8d2c2347f6f",
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    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To incapacitate; especially by inducing disorientation or unconsciousness.",
        "To shock or surprise.",
        "To hit the cue ball so that it slides without topspin or backspin (and with or without sidespin) and continues at a natural angle after contact with the object ball",
        "To enter a stunned state."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "intransitive"
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      "rawRecordSha256": "6777d511ae9e608eeaebb0dee25ff3177df564e249bd6c116cd037ca27a5c130",
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  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 2,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for stun →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c3R1bg