Stagger
late Middle English (as a verb): alteration of dialect stacker, from Old Norse stakra, frequentative of staka ‘push, stagger’. The noun dates from the late 16th century.
wiktionary
From Middle English stageren, stakeren, from Old Norse stakra(“to push, stagger”) [1]. Cognate with dialectal Danish stagre.
etymonline
stagger (v.)
mid-15c., "walk unsteadily, reel" (intransitive), altered from stakeren (early 14c.), from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Danish stagra, Old Norse stakra "to push, shove, cause to reel," also "to stumble, stagger," perhaps literally "hit with a stick," from Proto-Germanic *stakon- "a stake," from PIE *steg- (1) "pole, stick." Cognate with Dutch staggelen "to stagger," German staggeln "to stammer." Transitive sense of "bewilder, amaze" first recorded 1550s; that of "arrange in a zig-zag pattern" is from 1856. Related: Staggered; staggering.
