An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/stehen

by Friedrich Kluge

stehen, vb., ‘to stand, remain,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. stên, str. vb.; besides the root stai, which may be deduced from this verb, MidHG. and OHG. stân indicates another root. The form of this root stai (stâ) was extended to stand (staþ), from which most of the dialects form the pres. stem; comp. Goth. standan, AS. standan, E. to stand (E. to stay is derived from Rom.; comp. OFr. estaier), OHG. stantan, MidHG. (rarely) standen. The pres. stem was, in the Teut. group, formed from the root stand while the substant. derivatives were chiefly based on the Aryan root stā̆ (comp. Stadt, Statt, stetig). This recurs (as in the case of kommen, gehen, sitzen) in all the Aryan languages in the same sense. Comp. Sans. sthâ, Gr. ἱ τάναι, Lat. stâre, OSlov. stati, ‘to stand.’