still
Motionless; calm and quiet; continuing as before.
Etymology
Modern English still comes from Old English stille "motionless, calm, quiet," from Proto-Germanic *stiljaz, from PIE *stel- meaning "to put, to place, to stand still." The root implies something set in position, fixed. The same PIE root produced Latin locus "place" (via *stlocus) and Greek stéllō "I set in order, I equip," which gave English apostle (one "sent forth"), epistle ("sent to"), and stole (a garment "placed" on the shoulders). German still and Dutch stil preserve the adjective sense. Within English, the word stall (a fixed position for an animal or a market booth) is from the same family, as is install (to place in a stall or position). The remarkable semantic breadth of modern still — adjective ("still water"), adverb ("still working"), noun ("the still of the night"), and verb ("to still the waves") — all radiate from the core image of being placed and remaining fixed.
The Journey: *stel- → still
*stel-
*stiljaz
stille
stille
still
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *stel-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | locus | place (from *stlocus) |
| Greek | stéllō | to set, equip |
| German | still | quiet, calm |
| Old Norse | stillr | still, calm |
| Lithuanian | stulbas | post, pillar |
Did You Know?
Latin locus "place" (as in location, local, locomotive) actually descends from an older form *stlocus — with the same PIE root as still. The st- cluster simplified in Latin, disguising the connection. An apostle is literally one who is "sent away from a placed position" — from the same root, through Greek.