Stand

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /stænd/

Definitions

1. To be in an upright position on one's feet, or to tolerate something
2. To hold oneself erect on the feet ; to endure or resist an unpleasant situation or condition ; a small area or structure used for selling goods or providing information
3. To be positioned upright supported by the feet ; to resist or confront a challenge or injustice ; a booth or stall for transactions or display purposes

Etymology: The verb "stand" is one of English's oldest and most widely shared words. Its ancestor, the Proto-Indo-European root "steh₂-", meant simply to be in an upright position, and it spread so far that its descendants are found across the whole Indo-European family: Latin "stō" and Greek "stavrós" (cross, from the upright post) come from the same root, as do Russian "stojátʹ" and Lithuanian "stovėti". Germanic speakers added an "n" to the root, producing the form that became Proto-Germanic "standaną". English inherited the word directly rather than borrowing it. It came down through Old English "standan", which meant "to stand, occupy a place", and that sense of simply occupying a position in space remains at the heart of its many modern uses. The noun "stand" came later, formed from the verb in Middle English, and it took on the sense of a fixed place or platform, as in a market stand or a grandstand.

Synonyms: stay, remain, halt, pause, perch

Antonyms: sit, lie, collapse, fall, kneel