stalwart
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈstɔːl.wət/
ipa: /ˈstɒl-/
ipa: /ˈstɔl.wɚt/
ipa: /ˈstɑl-/
ipa: /ˈstoːl.wət/
Forms: form: more stalwart
form: most stalwart
Etymology: Borrowed from Scots stalwart under the influence of Walter Scott, displacing earlier stalworth, wherewith it forms a doublet. From Middle English stal-worth (“physically strong, hardy, robust; brave, courageous”), from Old English stǣlwierþe (“able to stand in good stead, serviceable”), probably from staþol (“establishment; foundation”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”)) or stǣl (“place; condition, stead”) + -wierþe (“able to, capable of”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to rotate, turn”)).
Senses: examples: text: This true Man ſoon aſſembled him beforn: / Three Sons he had that ſtalwart were and bold, / And twenty Men of Kin in his Houſhold.
ref: 1709, [Henry the Minstrel], “How Wallace Came into Scotland Again at the Battel of Elchok-Park”, in The Life and Acts of the Most Famous and Valiant Champion, Sir William Wallace, Knight of Ellerslie; Maintainer of the Liberty of Scotland. With a Preface Containing a Short Sum of the History of that Time, Edinburgh: Printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, →OCLC, book XII, page 304:
text: [A] stalwart leather-clad "boy," just returned from trapping on the waters of Grand River, on the western side the mountains, who interlards his mountain jargon with Spanish words picked up in Taos and California.
ref: 1849, George Frederick Ruxton, chapter III, in Life in the Far West (Plains and Rockies; 175), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 71:
text: For, observe, it was an assemblage of two hundred thousand young men—not simpering, dainty, kid-gloved weaklings, but stalwart, muscular, dauntless young braves, brimful of push and energy, and royally endowed with every attribute that goes to make up a peerless and magnificent manhood—the very pick and choice of the world's glorious ones.
ref: 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “”, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 415:
text: The driver was a stalwart woman who sat at ease in the front seat and drove her car bare-headed. She left a cloud of dust and a trail of gasoline behind her.
ref: 1912 August, Willa Sibert Cather, “The Bohemian Girl”, in McClure’s Magazine, volume XXXIX, number 4, [New York, N.Y.]: McClure Publications, →OCLC, chapter I, page 422:
text: Direct your attention now to the African turtles seen here migrating … Morbo wishes these stalwart nomads peace.
ref: 2002 November 10, Aaron Ehasz, “Crimes of the Hot”, in Futurama, season 5, episode 1, spoken by Morbo, via Fox Broadcasting Company:
glosses: Firmly or solidly built.
examples: text: Many other learned men of the age followed him [Romolo Amaseo] to the field, and contended with much zeal for the cause of the Latin; some even went so far as to wish the Italian completely banished entirely from the world. But stalwart champions were not wanting on the other side; and, to be brief, the impulse of public opinion soon swept away all opposition, and the popular cause was triumphant.
ref: 1832 October, “Art[icle] II.— History of the Italian Language and Dialects. Saggi di Prose e Poesie de’ più celebri Scrittori d’ogni Secolo. VI. vol. 8vo. (Selected by L. Nardini and S. Buonaiuti.) In Londra. 1798.”, in The North American Review, volume XXXV, number LXXVII, Boston, Mass.: Gray and Bowen, […], →OCLC, pages 301–302:
text: Now Tomlins always acted as Morgan's major domo in tent or quarters, and was also a stalwart hand either against ox, sheep, or enemy.
ref: 1842, E[dward] Howard, chapter XXXI, in Sir Henry Morgan, the Buccaneer, Paris: Baudry's European Library, […] and Stassin and Xavier, […], →OCLC, page 241:
glosses: Courageous.
glosses: Determined; staunch.
Synonyms: sense: firmly or solidly built
word: firm
word: resilient
word: robust
word: stout
word: strong
word: strapping
sense: courageous
word: bold
word: brave
word: courageous
word: daring
word: valiant
sense: determined
word: obstinate
Derived terms: stalwartly
stalwartness