stilt: [14] Stilt was probably acquired from some Low German source – Low German and Flemish have stilte. Its ultimate ancestor was a prehistoric Germanic *steltjōn, which was formed from a base meaning ‘walk stiffly, strut’ (source also of German stolz ‘proud’ and English stout). The derived stilted ‘over-dignified’ dates from the early 19th century. => stout
