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”).

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 and J Dodsley, , and J 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), by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H 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