An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Stiel

by Friedrich Kluge

Stiel, masculine, ‘handle, stalk, pedicle,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German stil, masculine. Phonetically the assumption that the word was borrowed from Latin stĭlus, ‘style’ (for writing), is possible. It is more probable, however, that the words are primitively allied, on account of Anglo-Saxon stela, steola, ‘handle’ (English diminutive stalk), and of Greek στέλεχος, ‘handle.’ The cognates of Stall, Stolle, and still may also be primitively allied.