Etymo

street

A road in a town or city.

Played on · Day 21 · word 2 of 5

A familiar word, four lives.

How street reached English

oldest first
  1. Latin

    strata

    ‘feminine past participle of sternere "lay down, spread out, pave", as in via strata "paved road"’

  2. Late Latin

    strata

    ‘paved road’

  3. Old English

    strǣt

    ‘street, high road’

  4. Middle English

    strete

    ‘road in a city or town’

  5. English

    street

The story of street

Street comes from the Latin expression associated with a paved road. Old English strǣt and Middle English strete show later stages. The modern double vowel is one reason spelling alone can make chronology more interesting than simply sorting language labels.

These are selected stages, not every spelling or intermediary. The story identifies omitted links; older forms did not all disappear at once.

Source

Merriam-Webster · street

Historical forms and the borrowing route.

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