stour

See also: Stour

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English store, stoor, stour (“tall, powerful”), from Old English stōr (“tall, great, mighty, strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōr, from Proto-Germanic *stōraz, *stōrijaz (“great, big, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā-r-, *stō-r- (“steadfast, firm; standing tall; big, bulky”).

Cognates

Akin to Scots stour (“tall, large, great, stout”), Saterland Frisian stor (“great, many”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian stor (“large, great”), Icelandic stórr (“large, tall”), Polish stary (“old, ancient”), Albanian stër- (“big, huge”). Compare also stoor, steer, stately.

Alternative forms

• stoor, stoore, stoure, stowr, stuir, stur, sture, sturry

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈstɔː/, /ˈstʊə/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈstɔɹ/, /ˈstʊɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ), -ʊə(ɹ)

Adjective

stour (comparative more stour, superlative most stour)

1. (now rare outside dialects) Tall; large; stout.
2. (now rare outside dialects) Strong; powerful; hardy; robust; sturdy.
3. (now rare outside dialects) Bold; audacious.
4. (now rare outside dialects) Rough in manner; stern; austere; ill-tempered.
5. (now rare outside dialects, of a voice) Rough; hoarse; deep-toned; harsh.
6. (now rare outside dialects, of cloth, land, etc.) Inflexible, stiff.
   • 1544 (date written; published 1571), Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, the Schole, or Partitions, of Shooting. […], London: […] Thomas Marshe, →OCLC; republished in The English Works of Roger Ascham, […], London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], and J[ohn] Newbery, […], 1761, →OCLC, book 2, page 148:

     A fenny gooſe, even as her fleſhe is blacker, ſtoorer, unholſomer, ſo is her feather, for the ſame cauſe, courſer, ſtoorer, and rougher, and therefore I have heard very good fletchers ſay, that the ſecond fether in ſome place is better than the pinion in other ſome.

7. (obsolete) Resolute; unyielding.

Derived terms

• stourly
• stourness

Noun

stour (plural stours)

1. (UK dialectal, Ulster) A blowing or deposit of dust; dust in motion or at rest; dust in general.

Adverb

stour (comparative more stour, superlative most stour)

1. (now chiefly dialectal) Severely; strongly.

Etymology 2

From Middle English stoure, stourre, from Old Norse staurr (“a stake, pale”), from Proto-Germanic *stauraz (“pole, support”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand, place”). Cognate with Icelandic staur (“a stake, pole”), Ancient Greek σταυρός (staurós, “a stake, cross”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈstaʊə/, /ˈstaʊ.ə/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈstaʊɚ/, /ˈstaʊɹ/
• Rhymes: -aʊə(ɹ), -aʊə, -aʊɹ

Noun

stour (plural stours)

1. A stake.
2. A round of a ladder.
3. A stave in the side of a wagon.
4. A large pole by which barges are propelled against the stream; a poy.

Etymology 3

From Middle English stour, stor (“conflict”) from Anglo-Norman estur (“conflict, struggle”), from Old French estour, estor, estorme, estourmie, estormie (“battle, assault, conflict, tumult”), from Vulgar Latin *estorma, *storma (“battle, conflict, storm”), from Frankish *sturm (“storm, commotion, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz (“storm”). Akin to Old High German sturm (“battle, storm”). More at storm.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈstɔː/, /ˈstʊə/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈstɔɹ/, /ˈstʊ(ə)ɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ), -ʊə, -ʊ(ə)ɹ

Noun

stour (plural stours)

2. (obsolete) An armed battle or conflict.
   • 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], (please specify the book number), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:
     , Book V:

     Then there began a passyng harde stoure, for the Romaynes ever wexed ever bygger.

   • 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XII, xv:

     This pair, who past have many a dreadful stour, / And proffer now to prove this venture stout, / Alone to this attempt let them go forth, / Alone than thousands of more price and worth.

3. (obsolete) A time of struggle or stress.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Then gan she waile and weepe, to see that woefull stowre.

4. (now dialectal) Tumult, commotion; confusion.

Verb

stour (third-person singular simple present stours, present participle stouring, simple past and past participle stoured)

1. Alternative form of stoor

Anagrams

• Rusto, Sutor, Tours, roust, routs, sutor, torus, tours

Middle English

Alternative forms

• stoor

Adjective

stour

1. Alternative form of store