Stretch
Old English streccan, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch strekken and German strecken . The noun dates from the late 16th century.
wiktionary
From Middle English strecchen, from Old English streċċan(“to stretch, hold out, extend, spread out, prostrate”), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan(“to stretch, make taut or tight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg-, *streg-, *treg-(“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with West Frisian strekke, Dutch strekken(“to stretch, straighten”), German strecken(“to stretch, straighten, elongate”), Danish strække(“to stretch”), Swedish sträcka(“to stretch”), Dutch strak(“taut, tight”), Albanian shtriqem(“to stretch”). More at stark.
etymonline
stretch (v.)
Old English streccan (transitive and intransitive) "to stretch, spread out, prostrate; reach, extend" (past tense strehte, past participle streht), from Proto-Germanic *strakjanan (source also of Danish strække, Swedish sträcka, Old Frisian strekka, Old High German strecchan, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Old High German, German strecken "to stretch, draw out"), perhaps a variant of the root of stark, or else from PIE root *strenk- "tight, narrow; pull tight, twist" (see string (n.)).
Meaning "to extend (the limbs or wings)" is from c. 1200; that of "to lay out for burial" is from early 13c. To stretch (one's) legs "take a walk" is from c. 1600. Meaning "to lengthen by force" first recorded late 14c.; figurative sense of "to enlarge beyond proper limits, exaggerate," is from 1550s. Stretch limo first attested 1973. Stretch marks is attested from 1960. Related: Stretched; stretching.
stretch (n.)
late 12c., "expanse of land;" 1540s, "act of stretching," from stretch (v.); meaning "unbroken continuance of some activity" is first recorded 1660s; meaning "straightaway of a race course" (as in home stretch) is recorded from 1839.
