overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

stour.

Tall; big; stout.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈstɔː/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstʊə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstɔɹ/General-American/ˈstʊɚ/General-American
  1. Tall; big; stout.

    dialectal · regional
  2. Strong; powerful; hardy; robust; sturdy.

    dialectal · regional
  3. Bold; audacious.

    dialectal · regional
  4. Rough in manner; stern; austere; ill-tempered.

    dialectal · regional
  5. Rough; hoarse; deep-toned; harsh.

    dialectal · regional
  6. Inflexible, stiff.

    dialectal · regional · usually
  7. Resolute; unyielding.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English store, stoor, stour (“tall, powerful”), from Old English stōr (“tall, great, mighty, strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōr, from Proto-Germanic *stōraz, *stōrijaz (“great, big, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā-r-, *stō-r- (“steadfast, firm; standing tall; big, bulky”). Cognates Akin to Scots stour (“tall, large, great, stout”), Saterland Frisian stor (“great, many”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian stor (“large, great”), Icelandic stórr (“large, tall”), Polish stary (“old, ancient”), Albanian stër- (“big, huge”). Compare also stoor, steer, stately.

noun/ˈstɔː/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstʊə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstɔɹ/General-American/ˈstʊɚ/General-American
  1. A blowing or deposit of dust; dust in motion or at rest; dust in general.

    UK · Ulster · dialectal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English store, stoor, stour (“tall, powerful”), from Old English stōr (“tall, great, mighty, strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōr, from Proto-Germanic *stōraz, *stōrijaz (“great, big, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā-r-, *stō-r- (“steadfast, firm; standing tall; big, bulky”). Cognates Akin to Scots stour (“tall, large, great, stout”), Saterland Frisian stor (“great, many”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian stor (“large, great”), Icelandic stórr (“large, tall”), Polish stary (“old, ancient”), Albanian stër- (“big, huge”). Compare also stoor, steer, stately.

adv/ˈstɔː/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstʊə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstɔɹ/General-American/ˈstʊɚ/General-American
  1. Severely; strongly.

    dialectal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English store, stoor, stour (“tall, powerful”), from Old English stōr (“tall, great, mighty, strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōr, from Proto-Germanic *stōraz, *stōrijaz (“great, big, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā-r-, *stō-r- (“steadfast, firm; standing tall; big, bulky”). Cognates Akin to Scots stour (“tall, large, great, stout”), Saterland Frisian stor (“great, many”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian stor (“large, great”), Icelandic stórr (“large, tall”), Polish stary (“old, ancient”), Albanian stër- (“big, huge”). Compare also stoor, steer, stately.

noun/ˈstaʊə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstaʊ.ə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstaʊɚ/General-American/ˈstaʊɹ/General-American
  1. A stake.

  2. A round of a ladder.

  3. A stave in the side of a wagon.

  4. A large pole by which barges are propelled against the stream; a poy.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English stoure, stourre, from Old Norse staurr (“a stake, pale”), from Proto-Germanic *stauraz (“pole, support”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand, place”). Cognate with Icelandic staur (“a stake, pole”), Ancient Greek σταυρός (staurós, “a stake, cross”).

noun/ˈstɔː/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstʊə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstɔɹ/General-American/ˈstʊ(ə)ɹ/General-American
  1. An armed battle or conflict.

    obsolete
  2. A time of struggle or stress.

    obsolete
  3. Tumult, commotion; confusion.

    dialectal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English stour, stor (“conflict”) from Anglo-Norman estur (“conflict, struggle”), from Old French estour, estor, estorme, estourmie, estormie (“battle, assault, conflict, tumult”), from Vulgar Latin *estorma, *storma (“battle, conflict, storm”), from Frankish *sturm (“storm, commotion, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz (“storm”). Akin to Old High German sturm (“battle, storm”). More at storm.

verb/ˈstɔː/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstʊə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈstɔɹ/General-American/ˈstʊ(ə)ɹ/General-American
  1. Alternative form of stoor.

    alt-of · alternative
Where this word comes from

From Middle English stour, stor (“conflict”) from Anglo-Norman estur (“conflict, struggle”), from Old French estour, estor, estorme, estourmie, estormie (“battle, assault, conflict, tumult”), from Vulgar Latin *estorma, *storma (“battle, conflict, storm”), from Frankish *sturm (“storm, commotion, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz (“storm”). Akin to Old High German sturm (“battle, storm”). More at storm.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

stour has 5 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

stour studiostour workshello, stour

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.