Stood

Stood is the past tense and past participle of the verb stand. It describes the act of occupying an upright position or the state of remaining in a given position. In ordinary statements, it appears in simple past constructions like "He stood at the door," and in phrases indicating continued state, such as "The statue has stood there for centuries" or "They had stood their ground." As a past participle, stood is used with auxiliary verbs to form perfect tenses and passive-like expressions, for example, "The monument has stood since the Renaissance."

Etymology and classification: stood derives from Old English standan and is cognate with German stehen and Dutch staan. It comes from the Proto-Germanic root *standan-, related to the general concept of remaining upright. Unlike many English verbs, stand is irregular: the past tense is not formed with -ed but with the distinct form stood.

Usage notes: stood participates in numerous idioms and phrasal verbs. Common examples include stand up (rise to one’s feet), stand by (support or remain ready), stand for (represent or endure), stand out (be conspicuous), and stand up to (resist or confront). In past tense, these phrases become stood up, stood by, stood for, stood out, stood up to, respectively. Additionally, stood can express endurance or validity, as in "the agreement still stood" or "the theory stood the test of time." The word is versatile across formal writing and everyday speech, with meanings centered on position, perseverance, and representation.