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Origin and history of stunt

stunt(v.)

"to check in growth, to dwarf," 1650s; earlier "bring to an abrupt halt" (c. 1600); "provoke, anger, irritate" (1580s), from obsolete Middle English adjective stunt "foolish, stupid; obstinate," from Old English stunt "stupid, foolish" (as in stuntspræc "foolish talk"), from Proto-Germanic *stuntaz "short, truncated" (source also of Middle High German stunz "short, blunt, stumpy," Old Norse stuttr (*stuntr) "scanty, short"), an adjective which stands in gradational relationship to stint (v.).

The sense-development of the English word is from influence of the Old Norse word. The Middle English adjective is attested from mid-15c. in the sense of "of short duration." Related: Stunted; stunting.

As an adjective, 1788 as "stunted;" earlier "obstinate, stubborn, rudely curt" (1580s). As a noun, 1725 as "animal prevented from attaining proper growth;" by 1795 as "a check in growth."

also from 1650s

stunt(n.)

"feat to attract attention or provide entertainment," 1878, American English college sports slang, of uncertain origin. Speculation is that it is a variant of colloquial stump "dare, challenge" (1871; see stump (v.)), or of German Stunde, literally "hour" (see stound).

Popularized from c. 1904, when it was picked up by the aviators and the jargon of the stage; the movie stunt man is attested from 1930.

also from 1878

Entries linking to stunt

stint(v.)

"be sparing or frugal," 1722, from earlier sense of "limit, restrain" (1510s), "cause to cease, put an end to" an action or effort (mid-14c.), and in intransitive use, "cease, desist" (c. 1200), Middle English stinten, from Old English styntan "to blunt, make dull, stupefy" probably originally "make short," from Proto-Germanic *stuntijanan, from PIE *steud-, extended form of root *(s)teu- (1) "to push, stick, knock, beat" (see steep (adj.)).

The Old English verb is cognate with Old Norse stytta (assimilated from earlier *stynta) "to shorten, make short, tuck up;" and the modern sense of the English word might be from Old Norse or from an unrecorded Old English sense. Related to stunt (v.) and stutter (v.).

The transitive sense of "limit unduly in supply" is by 1722; that of "be careful in expenditure" is from 1848. Related: Stinted; stinting. In Middle English, stinter was used of God and the Virgin Mary, as ones who "put an end to" strife, woe, etc.

stound(n.)

"moment, relatively short length of time" (archaic), Middle English stounde, from Old English stund "point of time, time, hour," from Proto-Germanic *stundo- (source also of Old Saxon stonda, Old Frisian stunde, Dutch stondi, German Stunde "hour"), which is said to be from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm," but Boutkan finds for it no clear IE etymology.

It was common in Middle English expressions such as in a stound "soon, shortly," a little stound "a little while." Stoundmeal meant "at times, at intervals" (Old English stundmælum) and was in use as late as Caxton.