stour

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈstɔː/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈstʊə/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• General-American: /ˈstɔɹ/
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• General-American: /ˈstʊɚ/
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• rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)
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• rhymes with -ʊə(ɹ)
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• /ˈstaʊəɹ/
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• East-Anglia: /ˈstʊəɹ/
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• East-Anglia: /ˈstaʊɹ/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈstaʊə/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈstaʊ.ə/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play
• General-American: /ˈstaʊɚ/
  Play
• General-American: /ˈstaʊɹ/
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• rhymes with -aʊə(ɹ)
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• rhymes with -aʊə
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• rhymes with -aʊɹ
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• General-American: /ˈstʊ(ə)ɹ/
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From Middle English store, stoor, stour (“tall, powerful”), from Old English stōr (“tall, great, mighty, strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōr, from Proto-Germanic *stōraz, *stōrijaz (“great, big, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā-r-, *stō-r- (“steadfast, firm; standing tall; big, bulky”). Cognates Akin to Scots stour (“tall, large, great, stout”), Saterland Frisian stor (“great, many”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian stor (“large, great”), Icelandic stórr (“large, tall”), Polish stary (“old, ancient”), Albanian stër- (“big, huge”). Compare also stoor, steer, stately.

Most of the rivers' names are from the root of stour (“powerful, tall, large”), though some may have been borrowed through and influenced by Celtic (compare Welsh dŵr (“water”).

From Middle English stoure, stourre, from Old Norse staurr (“a stake, pale”), from Proto-Germanic *stauraz (“pole, support”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand, place”). Cognate with Icelandic staur (“a stake, pole”), Ancient Greek σταυρός (staurós, “a stake, cross”).

From Middle English stour, stor (“conflict”) from Anglo-Norman estur (“conflict, struggle”), from Old French estour, estor, estorme, estourmie, estormie (“battle, assault, conflict, tumult”), from Vulgar Latin *estorma, *storma (“battle, conflict, storm”), from Frankish *sturm (“storm, commotion, battle”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz (“storm”). Akin to Old High German sturm (“battle, storm”). More at storm.