/ˈstɔː/, /ˈstʊə/, /ˈstɔɹ/
OriginFrom 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.
- dialectal, regionalTall; large; stout.
- dialectal, regionalStrong; powerful; hardy; robust; sturdy.
- dialectal, regionalBold; audacious.
- dialectal, regionalRough in manner; stern; austere; ill-tempered.
- dialectal, regionalRough; hoarse; deep-toned; harsh.
- dialectal, regional, usuallyInflexible, stiff.
“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 ſe”
- obsoleteResolute; unyielding.
- UK, Ulster, dialectalA blowing or deposit of dust; dust in motion or at rest; dust in general.
- A stake.
- A round of a ladder.
- A stave in the side of a wagon.
- A large pole by which barges are propelled against the stream; a poy.
- obsoleteAn armed battle or conflict.
“Then there began a passyng harde stoure, for the Romaynes ever wexed ever bygger.”
“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.”
- obsoleteA time of struggle or stress.
“Then gan she waile and weepe, to see that woefull stowre.”
- dialectalTumult, commotion; confusion.
- dialectalSeverely; strongly.
- A river in Dorset, England, which flows into the English Channel at Christchurch.
- A river in Kent, England, running from the confluence of the Great Stour and Little Stour to the English Channel at Pegwell Bay.
- A river in Essex and Suffolk, England, flowing into the North Sea at Harwich.
“The Stour is at its lowest ebb, and the sheen of the flats makes it difficult to tell where ground ends and water begins, out in the bay.”
- A river in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, England, which joins the Warwickshire Avon near Stratford-on-Avon.
- A river in Staffordshire, West Midlands, and Worcestershire, England, which flows into the River Severn.
Formsmore stour(comparative) · most stour(superlative) · stoor(alternative) · stoore(alternative) · stoure(alternative) · stowr(alternative) · stuir(alternative) · stur(alternative) · sture(alternative) · sturry(alternative) · stours(plural)