# stand

> English word · Verb · IPA /stænd/ · frequency rank #756

## Definitions
1. To position or be positioned physically:
2. To position or be positioned physically:
3. To position or be positioned physically:
4. To position or be positioned physically:
5. To position or be positioned physically:
6. To position or be positioned physically:
7. To position or be positioned physically:
8. To position or be positioned physically:
9. To position or be positioned mentally:
10. To position or be positioned mentally:
11. To position or be positioned mentally:
12. To position or be positioned mentally:
13. To position or be positioned mentally:
14. To position or be positioned socially:
15. To position or be positioned socially:
16. To position or be positioned socially:
17. To position or be positioned socially:
18. To position or be positioned socially:
19. To position or be positioned socially:
20. To position or be positioned socially:
21. To position or be positioned socially:
22. To position or be positioned socially:
23. Of a ship or its captain, to steer, sail (in a specified direction, for a specified destination etc.).
24. To remain without ruin or injury.
25. To stop asking for more cards; to keep one's hand as it has been dealt so far.

## Etymology
From Middle English stonden, standen (verb) and stand, stond (noun, from the verb), from Old English standan (“to stand, occupy a place”), from Proto-West Germanic *standan, from Proto-Germanic *standaną (“to stand”), from Pre-Germanic *sth₂-n-t-´, an innovative extended n-infixed form of Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots staund (“to stand”), Yola sthoan, sthoane, sthone, stoane (“to stand”), North Frisian staan, stoune, stuine, stun, stönje, stööne (“to stand”), Saterland Frisian stounde (“to stand”), Danish stande (“to stand”), Faroese and Icelandic standa (“to stand”), Norwegian Nynorsk standa, stå (“to stand”), Swedish stånda (“to stand”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽 (standan, “to stand”). From the related Proto-Germanic *stāną (“to stand”): West Frisian stean (“to stand”), Alemannic German staa (“to stand”), Central Franconian stiehn, stohn, stonn (“to stand”), Cimbrian stean (“to stand”), Dutch staan (“to stand”), German stehen, stehn (“to stand”), Low German stahn, staon (“to stand”), Luxembourgish stoen (“to stand”), Vilamovian śtejn (“to stand”), Yiddish שטיין (shteyn, “to stand”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish stå (“to stand”), Faroese stá (“to stand”). Also from *steh₂-: Breton and Cornish sevel (“to stand”), Welsh sefyll (“to stand”), Latin stō (“to stand”), Greek σταυρός (stavrós, “cross”), Albanian shtyllë (“pillar; column”), Latvian stāvēt (“to stand”), Lithuanian stóti, stovėti (“to stand”), Belarusian стая́ць (stajácʹ, “to stand”), Bulgarian стоя́ (stojá, “to stand, stay”), Czech stát (“to stand”), Macedonian стои (stoi, “to stand”), Polish stać, stojeć (“to stand”), Russian стоя́ть (stojátʹ, “to stand”), Serbo-Croatian ста̏јати, stȁjati (“to stand”), Slovak stáť (“to stand”), Slovene státi (“to stand”), Ukrainian стоя́ти (stojáty, “to stand”), Armenian ստվար (stvar, “large, thick; dense”), Ossetian стын (styn, “to stand up”), Northern Kurdish rawestîn (“to stand”), Persian ایستادن (istâdan), وایسادن (vâysâdan), وایستادن (vâystâdan, “to stand up”), Tocharian A ṣtäm- (“to stand”), Tocharian B stäm- (“to stand”), Sanskrit स्था (sthā, “to stand”).

## Easily confused with
- **STD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-std)
- **stay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stay)
- **star** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-star)
- **stat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stat)
- **swan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-swan)
- **stud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stud)
- **stun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stun)
- **state** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-state)
- **start** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-start)
- **stars** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stars)
- **stone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stone)
- **stood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stood)
- **stats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stats)
- **stays** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stays)
- **stark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stark)
- **stare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stare)
- **stunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stunt)
- **sting** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-sting)
- **stint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stint)
- **stash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stand-vs-stash)

## Common misspellings (8)
`satnd`, `sstand`, `stadn`, `standd`, `stannd`, `stnad`, `sttand`, `tsand`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stand