- stump (n.) - mid-14c., "remaining part of a severed arm or
leg," from or cognate with Middle Low German stump (from
adjective meaning "mutilated, blunt, dull"), Middle Dutch stomp
"stump," from Proto-Germanic *stump- (cf. Old Norse stumpr, Old
High German and German stumpf "stump," German Stummel "piece cut
off"), perhaps related to the root of stub or stamp, but the
connection in each case presents difficulties. Earliest form of
the word in English is a now-obsolete verb meaning "to stumble
over a tree-stump or other obstacle," attested from mid-13c.
Meaning "part of a tree trunk left in the ground after felling"
is from mid-15c. Sense of "walk clumsily" is first recorded
c.1600; that of "baffle" is first recorded 1807, perhaps in
reference to plowing newly cleared land. - stump (v.) - "to go
on a speaking tour during a political campaign," 1838, American
English, from phrase stump speech (1820), from stump (n.), large
tree stumps being a natural perch for rural orators (this custom
is attested from 1775).