Stubb

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A short stump left in the ground after a tree or plant has been cut down or broken off
2. The remaining base of a tree trunk or branch that is left standing once the upper part is removed
3. A stumpy remnant of wood protruding from the earth where a tree was felled

Etymology: A tree stump, cut low to the ground, is the original sense behind this word. Old English "stybb" meant a stump or the short remnant of something cut off, and it came from a Germanic root shared with other words for a short, blunt piece. The same idea of shortness and bluntness runs through the family, so the word names the leftover part rather than the whole thing. Over time the word narrowed and spread into everyday use. A stub came to mean a short end of anything, such as a cigarette or a ticket counterfoil left after the main part is torn off, and the form "stubb" survives mainly in regional and older English for a stump or short stick. Its relative "stubby" keeps the sense of something short and thick.

Synonyms: stump, stub