stout (adj.)

c. 1300, stoute, "valiant, brave," also "proud, haughty; skilled in battle; fierce, cruel," senses now obsolete, from Old French estout "brave, fierce, proud," earlier estolt "strong," from a Germanic source from West Germanic *stult- "proud, stately, strutting" (source also of Middle Low German stolt "stately, proud," German stolz "proud, haughty, arrogant, stately"). This is reconstructed to be from PIE root *stel- "to put, stand, put in order," with derivatives referring to a standing object or place.

The meaning "strong in body, powerfully built," in reference to a person or animal, is attested from c. 1300 and developed as a major sense by 15c., but it largely has been displaced by the (often euphemistic) meaning "thick-bodied, fat and large, bulky in figure," which is recorded by 1804. Of things, "strongly built, solid," from c. 1400.

The oldest sense is preserved in figurative phrase stout-hearted "having a brave heart, of undaunted courage" (1550s). The Germanic group also seems to have had a sense development toward "stupid," as in Middle Low German stolz, Dutch stout, which also could mean "stupid," perhaps by influence of Italian stolto "silly," from Latin stultus. Related: Stoutly; stoutness.

1670s, "strong beer or ale," from stout (adj.). Later especially, and now usually, "porter of extra strength" (by 1762).