Startle (Verb)

Definition 1: To cause someone to jump or start. To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly.[@more@]

Usage 1: This verb has produced an adjective from its present participle, "startling," but no other offspring. Revelations are often startling. The verb itself may be used as a noun: "Your goose gave me quite a startle;" indeed, the final -le is often omitted, probably for reasons given in the Etymology: "Your goose gave me quite a start."

Suggested usage: We are startled by the unexpected: "Mona was startled by her mother's spiked, rainbow-colored hair but she struggled not to show it." And the unexpected can be found in unexpected places: "Fritz took one bite of the Cajun broccoli mousse and jerked back with a startled expression on his face."

Etymology: It might seem obvious that "to startle" means "to cause to start" in the sense of "move quickly then stop." However, today's word comes from Old English steartlian "to kick, struggle" while "start" comes from Old English *styrtan "to leap up." Both these words, however, originate as suffixed forms of the Proto-Indo-European root *ster-/stor- "stiff," mother of a family with some interesting characters. You can find a family resemblance in "cholesterol" from Greek chol- "bile" + stereos "solid." Extended form *strg went on to produce "stork" (from the stiff movements of the bird) and "starch." A metathesized variant became the word for that stiff form of walking, the strut, and, oh, yes, the word for that stiff way of looking at folks, the stare, comes from the same ancestor.

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