*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of stall

From Middle English stall, stalle, from Old English steall (“standing place, position”), from Proto-Germanic *stallaz, from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, put, post, stand”). Cognate with French étal, Italian sta

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 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.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A compartment for a single animal in a stable or cattle shed. · A stable; a place for cattle. · A bench or table on which small articles of merchandise are exposed for sale. · A small open-fronted shop, for example in a market, food court, etc.

verb

To put (an animal, etc.) in a stall. · To fatten. · To live in, or as if in, a stall; to dwell. · To place in an office with the customary formalities; to install.

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

From Middle English stall, stalle, from Old English steall (“standing place, position”), from Proto-Germanic *stallaz, from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, put, post, stand”). Cognate with French étal, Italian stallo, German Stall, Swedish stall.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Inherited-form mentionstallenm
  • Inherited-form mentionsteallang
  • Inherited-form mention*stallazgem-pro
  • Derivation mention*stel-ine-pro · to place, put, post, stand
  • Cognate mentionétalfr
  • Cognate mentionstalloit
  • Cognate mentionStallde
  • Cognate mentionstallsv

This page abbreviates 11 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.

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      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "3": "stall"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English stall"
    },
    {
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        "2": "ang",
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        "4": "",
        "5": "standing place, position"
      },
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    },
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    },
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    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "étal"
      },
      "expansion": "French étal"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "it",
        "2": "stallo"
      },
      "expansion": "Italian stallo"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Stall"
      },
      "expansion": "German Stall"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
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        "1": "sv",
        "2": "stall"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish stall"
    }
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      "stalle#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "steall",
      "steall#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*stallaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/stallaz"
    ],
    [
      "*stel-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/stel-"
    ],
    [
      "étal",
      "étal#French"
    ],
    [
      "stallo",
      "stallo#Italian"
    ],
    [
      "Stall",
      "Stall#German"
    ],
    [
      "stall",
      "stall#Swedish"
    ]
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        "A compartment for a single animal in a stable or cattle shed.",
        "A stable; a place for cattle.",
        "A bench or table on which small articles of merchandise are exposed for sale.",
        "A small open-fronted shop, for example in a market, food court, etc."
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        "To fatten.",
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        "To place in an office with the customary formalities; to install."
      ],
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To employ delaying tactics against. · To employ delaying tactics; to stall for time. · To come to a standstill. · To cause to stop making progress; to hinder; to slow down; to delay or forestall.

noun

An action that is intended to cause, or actually causes, delay. · Loss of lift due to an airfoil's critical angle of attack being exceeded, normally occurring due to low airspeed.

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

From Middle English stallen (“to abide, dwell, place in a location, stop, come to a standstill”), partly from Old French estaler, ultimately from the same origin as Etymology 1 (see above); and partly from Middle English stalle (“fixed position, stall”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Inherited-form mentionstallenenm · to abide, dwell, place in a location, stop, come to a standstill
  • Derivation mentionestalerfro
  • Derivation mentionstalleenm · fixed position, stall

This page abbreviates 7 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": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "stallen",
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      },
      "expansion": "Middle English stallen (“to abide, dwell, place in a location, stop, come to a standstill”)"
    },
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      "stalle#Middle_English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To employ delaying tactics against.",
        "To employ delaying tactics; to stall for time.",
        "To come to a standstill.",
        "To cause to stop making progress; to hinder; to slow down; to delay or forestall."
      ],
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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 stall →

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-c3RhbGw