stunt

[JohnYY]

I wonder on the ancestry of the two totally disparate meanings of this word.

[Perry Lassiter]

The dictionaries consider the two meanings come from being two different words. Hang around this Agora for awhile, and you will see Dr Goodword now and then discusses words like this. The etymology for the meaning to stunt, stop or hinder growth comes from the 16th century word that meant foolish or stupid. The American Heritage Dictionary finds the etymology of the second meaning, a daring or foolish act, to be unknown. However, it seems to me that the root of foolish or stupid could also have been the source of the daring meaning. Perhaps someone looked at the wild stunts and called them "stunts," meaning stupid, which of course some stunts are.

[JohnYY]

I meant to recommend this as a Word of the Day; "unknown" derivations are always interesting.