Stub
Old English stub(b) ‘stump of a tree’, of Germanic origin. The verb is first recorded (late Middle English) in sense 3; stub (sense 1 of the verb) (mid 19th century) was originally a US usage.
wiktionary
From Middle English stubbe(“tree stump”), from Old English stybb, stubb(“tree stump”), from Proto-Germanic *stubbaz (compare Middle Dutch stubbe, Old Norse stubbr), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tew-; compare steep(“sharp slope”).
Sense extended in Middle English to similarly shaped objects. Verb sense “strike one’s toe” is recorded 1848; “extinguish a cigarette” 1927. [1]
etymonline
stub (n.)
Old English stybb "stump of a tree," from Proto-Germanic *stubjaz (source also of Middle Dutch stubbe, Old Norse stubbr), from PIE root *(s)teu- (1) "to push, stick, knock, beat" (see steep (adj.)). Extended 14c. to other short, thick, protruding things. Meaning "remaining part of something partially consumed" is from 1520s.
stub (v.)
mid-15c., "dig up stumps, dig up by the roots," from stub (n.). The sens of "strike (one's toe) against" something projecting from a surface is first recorded 1848. Meaning "to extinguish a cigarette" is from 1927. Related: Stubbed; stubbing.
