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Origin and history of stolid

stolid(adj.)

"heavy, dull, impassive, stupid," c. 1600, back-formation from stolidity, or else from French stolide (16c.), from Latin stolidus "insensible, dull, slow, brutish, rude, stupid," properly "unmovable," related to stultus "foolish" (from PIE *stol-ido-, suffixed form of root *stel- "to put, stand, put in order," with derivatives referring to a standing object or place). Related: Stolidly.

Dem. By what faulte or fate of mine (luculent not lutulent Sergeants) shall I say it is come to passe that I, an orator, not an arator, floridde not horridde, should bee cast into prison by stolidde, not by solidde, persons? ["Timon"]

also from c. 1600

Entries linking to stolid

stolidity(n.)

"dullness, stupidity, quality of being impassive," 1560s, from French stolidite and directly from Late Latin stoliditatem (nominative stoliditas) "dullness, obtuseness, stupidity," from Latin stolidus, properly "unmovable" (see stolid).

stultify(v.)

1766, as a legal term, "allege to be of unsound mind," from Late Latin stultificare "turn into foolishness," from Latin stultus "foolish; uneducated," literally "unmovable" (from PIE root *stel- "to put, stand, put in order") + combining form of facere "to make, to do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

The first element is cognate with Latin stolidus "slow, dull, obtuse" (see stolid). The meaning "make or cause to appear foolish or absurd" is from 1809.

Hence stultiloquy "foolish talk, silly babbling" (1650s, Jeremy Taylor), stultiloquence. Related: Stultified; stultifying. Stultitious "ridiculous, foolish" (1540s) is marked obsolete in OED.

*stel-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to put, stand, put in order," with derivatives referring to a standing object or place.

It might form all or part of: apostle; catastaltic; diastole; epistle; forestall; Gestalt; install; installment; pedestal; peristalsis; peristaltic; stale (adj.); stalk (n.); stall (n.1) "place in a stable for animals;" stall (n.2) "pretense to avoid doing something;" stall (v.1) "come to a stop, become stuck;" stallage; stallion; stele; stell; still (adj.); stilt; stole (n.); stolid; stolon; stout; stultify; systaltic; systole.

It might also be the source of: Greek stellein "to put in order, make ready; equip or dress with weapons, clothes, etc.; prepare (for a journey), dispatch; to furl (sails);" Armenian stełc-anem "to prepare, create;" Albanian shtiell "to wind up, reel up, collect;" Old Church Slavonic po-steljo "I spread;" Old Prussian stallit "to stand;" Old English steall "standing place, stable," Old High German stellen "to set, place."

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    Trends of stolid

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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