n.
'stern'
(Modern English stern)Usually derived from ON *steorn, cp. OIcel stjórn 'helm, steering'. The only evidence elsewhere in Gmc for an abstract formation on the root *steur- (as in the nouns (of various gender) represented by OE stēor 'steering, direction, guidance', OFris stiure, MLG stiure, stūre, OHG stiura, OIcel stýri, which originated as sb. adjectives, as in Go us-stiuriba 'dissolutely') with fem. -nō is OFris stiārne. An unattested OE *stēorn thus remains a possibility.
PGmc Ancestor
*steurnō
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
stjórn 'helm, steering'
(ONP stjórn (sb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Far stjórn, Icel stjórn, Norw stjorn, OSw stiorn-
OE Cognate
cp. stēor 'steering, direction, guidance'
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
CC1a
MED has citations from a variety of texts starting with c1300 Horn (LdMisc 108).
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Pat 149