Stab
late Middle English: of unknown origin.
wiktionary
First attested in Scottish English (compare Scots stob, stobbe, stabb(“a pointed stick or stake; a thrust with a pointed weapon”)), from Middle English stabbe(“a stab”), probably a variant of Middle English stob, stub, stubbe(“pointed stick, stake, thorn, stub, stump”), from Old Norse stobbi, stubbi, cognate with Old English stybb. Cognate with Middle Dutch stobbe.
Supposed by some to derive from Scottish Gaelic stob(“to prick, to prod, to push, to thrust”); supposed by others to be from a Scots word.
Clipping of stabilizer or stabiliser.
stab (not comparable)
etymonline
stab (v.)
late 14c., "thrust with a pointed weapon," first in Scottish English, apparently a dialectal variant of Scottish stob "to pierce, stab," from stob (n.), perhaps a variant of stub (n.) "stake, nail," but Barnhart finds this "doubtful." Figurative use, of emotions, etc., is from 1590s. Related: Stabbed; stabbing.
stab (n.)
"wound produced by stabbing," mid-15c., from stab (v.). Meaning "act of stabbing" is from 1520s. Meaning "a try" first recorded 1895, American English. Stab in the back in the figurative sense "treacherous deed" is first attested 1881; the verbal phrase in the figurative sense is from 1888.
