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stark

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Stark, stärk, and stærk

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English stark, starc, from Old English stearc, starc (“stiff, rigid, unyielding, obstinate, hard, strong, severe, violent”), from Proto-West Germanic *stark, from Proto-Germanic *starkuz (“stiff, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terg- (“rigid, stiff”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian sterc (“strong”), Dutch sterk (“strong”), Low German sterk (“strong”), German stark (“strong”), Danish stærk (“strong”), Swedish stark (“strong”), Norwegian sterk (“strong”), Icelandic sterkur (“strong”). Related to starch.

In the phrase stark naked: an alternation of Middle English stert naked, from stert (“tail”), a literal parallel to the modern butt naked.

Adjective

stark (comparative starker, superlative starkest)

  1. (obsolete) Hard, firm; obdurate.
  2. Severe; violent; fierce (now usually in describing the weather).
    • 2013 May 11, “The climate of Tibet: Pole-land”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8835, page 80:
      Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.
  3. (poetic, literary or archaic) Strong; vigorous; powerful.
  4. Stiff, rigid.
  5. Plain in appearance; barren, desolate.
    I picked my way forlornly through the stark, sharp rocks.
    • 2004, Gary Lutz, “Uncle”, in Peter Conners, editor, PP/FF: An Anthology, Buffalo, N.Y.: Starcherone Books, published 2006, →ISBN, page 179:
      I would have to remind her, counteringly, that you don’t pick the person who fronts your life—you get picked, you watch the picker’s ankles vanish into the scrunched socks afterward (his whole body going blank behind the blue-black of the uniform), and the picker goes off in the starkest of transportations: you keep an ear cocked ever after for the return of his van and its paraphernalian clatter in the gravelled driveway.
    • 2007 January 28, Michael Pollan, “Unhappy Meals”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      First, the stark message to “eat less” of a particular food has been deep-sixed; don’t look for it ever again in any official U.S. dietary pronouncement.
    • 2011 April 8, Erin Meister, “Reveling in the real Taiwain[sic – meaning Taiwan]”, in The Washington Post‎, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 April 2023, Travel‎:
      The modern, glass-fronted buildings surrounding the massive skyscraper Taipei 101 in the Xinyi District suggest a shift toward cleaner, starker development, but a trip to older parts of the city reveals hidden corners untouched by modernity.
      The oldest section, Wanhua, with its winding corridors and quiet decay, offers a glimpse of the city’s bygone days. At its bustling heart is the busy Longshan Temple. I bump past a flurry of tourists, worshipers and monks selling prayer beads outside the gates to reach the controlled chaos within, where hundreds of faithful light incense and present offerings at myriad shrines to Buddha and other deities.
  6. Naked.
    • 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 211:
      They bore me to a cavern in the hill
      Beneath that column, and unbound me there;
      And one did strip me stark; and one did fill
      A vessel from the putrid pool; one bare
      A lighted torch, and four with friendless care
      Guided my steps the cavern-paths along […]
  7. Complete, absolute, full.
    I screamed in stark terror.
    A flower was growing, in stark contrast, out of the sidewalk.
Derived terms
Translations

Adverb

stark (not comparable)

  1. Starkly; entirely, absolutely.
    He's gone stark, staring mad.
    She was just standing there, stark naked.
    • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
      […] held him strangled in his arms till he was stark dead.
    • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:
      “… That woman is stark mad, Lord Stranleigh. Her own father recognised it when he bereft her of all power in the great business he founded. …”
Usage notes

In standard modern English, the adverb is essentially restricted to stark naked and phrases meaning "crazy" on the pattern of stark raving mad.

Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English starken, from Old English stearcian (“to stiffen, become hard, grow stiff or hard”), from Proto-Germanic *starkōną, *starkēną (“to stiffen, become hard”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terg- (“rigid, stiff”). Cognate with German erstarken (“to strengthen”).

Verb

stark (third-person singular simple present starks, present participle starking, simple past and past participle starked)

  1. (obsolete or dialect) To stiffen.

Anagrams

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German

Etymology

From Middle High German starc, from Old High German stark, from Proto-West Germanic *stark.

Pronunciation

Adjective

stark (strong nominative masculine singular starker, comparative stärker, superlative am stärksten)

  1. strong (intense, powerful, unyielding)
  2. strong (having a high concentration of some ingredient, e.g. alcohol)
    Coordinate terms: gemischt, schwach
  3. (of an action, especially sports) good, great, skilled
  4. (colloquial, slightly dated) brilliant, awesome
  5. (colloquial, dated) incredible, unbelievable
    ein starkes Stück ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    starker Tobak ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  6. (dated, euphemistic) overweight, fat
  7. (grammar) strong (inflecting according to a pattern distinct from another called "weak")

Declension

Positive forms of stark
More information number & gender, singular ...
Comparative forms of stark
More information number & gender, singular ...
Superlative forms of stark
More information number & gender, singular ...

Derived terms

Further reading

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Kashubian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *starъ + -k.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈstark/
  • Rhymes: -ark
  • Syllabification: stark

Noun

stark m pers (female equivalent starka)

  1. grandfather
    Synonyms: dżadek, ópa

Declension

More information singular, plural ...

Further reading

  • Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “dziadek”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎
  • “stark”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

Low German

Etymology

Cognate with High German stark, Dutch sterk.

Pronunciation

Adjective

stark (comparative starker, superlative starkst)

  1. strong, powerful

Declension

Positive forms of stark
More information gender, singular ...
Comparative forms of stark
More information gender, singular ...
Superlative forms of stark
More information gender, singular ...
Note: This declension is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects.

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • Starkde/Stärkde
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Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *starkuz, whence also Old English stearc, Old Norse sterkr.

Adjective

stark

  1. strong

Derived terms

Descendants

  • German: stark
  • Yiddish: שטאַרק (shtark)

Polish

Etymology

Deverbal from sterczeć (starczyć).

Pronunciation

Noun

stark m inan

  1. (Southern Greater Poland) spike, tip (that which juts out)
  2. (Western Lublin, Gałęzów) stump (old trunk without branches)
    Hypernym: pień
    Pole kole starku. ― The field near the stump.

Further reading

  • Oskar Kolberg (1877), “stark”, in “Rzecz o mowie ludu wielkopolskiego”, in Zbiór wiadomości do antropologii krajowéj‎ (in Polish), volume 1, III (Materyjały etnologiczne), page 31
  • Hieronim Łopaciński (1892), “stark”, in “Przyczynki do nowego słownika języka polskiego (słownik wyrazów ludowych z Lubelskiego i innych okolic Królestwa Polskiego)”, in Prace Filologiczne (in Polish), volume 4, Warsaw: skł. gł. w Księgarni E. Wende i Ska, page 250
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Slovene

Noun

stark

  1. genitive dual/plural of starka

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish starker, from Old Norse starkr, from Proto-Germanic *starkuz, from Proto-Indo-European *sterg-.

Pronunciation

Adjective

stark (comparative starkare, superlative starkast)

  1. strong; able to use great force
    en stark tyngdlyftare
    a strong weightlifter
    starka muskler
    strong muscles
    stark som en björn
    strong as an ox
    (literally, “strong as a bear”)
  2. strong; capable of withstanding great (physical) force
  3. strong; highly stimulating to the senses
    starkt ljus
    bright light
  4. (of food) hot, spicy
    världens starkaste chilipeppar
    the world's hottest chili pepper
    Nisses chili con carne är för stark för mig
    Nisse's chili con carne is too spicy for me
  5. strong; having a high concentration of an essential; possibly alcohol
    starkt kaffe
    strong coffee
    starka drycker
    strong drink [beverages]
    starksprit
    hard liquor
  6. (grammar) strong
  7. (military) strong; not easily subdued or taken

Declension

More information Indefinite, positive ...

1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
2 Dated or archaic.
3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Synonyms

Derived terms

See also

  • oregelbundet verb

References

Anagrams

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