strand

• (UK) IPA^(key): /stɹænd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /stɹænd/, [stɹɛənd]

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ænd

• From Middle English strand, strond, from Old English strand (“strand, sea-shore, shore”), from Proto-West Germanic *strand, from Proto-Germanic *strandō (“edge, rim, shore”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)trAnt- (“strand, border, field”), from Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃- (“to broaden, spread out”). Cognate with West Frisian strân, Dutch strand, German Strand, Danish strand, Swedish strand, Norwegian Bokmål strand, Icelandic strönd.
• (street): Perhaps from the similarity of shape.

strand (plural strands)

1. The shore or beach of the sea or ocean.

   Grand Strand

   • 1557 July 1, Virgil, “The Second Boke of Virgiles Aenæis”, in Henry [Howard, Earl] of Surrey, transl., edited by William Bolland, Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aenaeis, Turned into English Meter ([Roxburghe Club Publications; I]), London: […] A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1814, →OCLC:

     A woman that wandring in our coaſtes hath bought / A plot for price: where ſhe a citie ſet: / To whom we gaue the ſtrond for to manure.

   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Sets out as Captain of a Ship. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 159:

     They rowed about a League; and then ſet me down on a Strand.

2. (poetic, archaic or regional) The shore or beach of a lake or river.
3. A small brook or rivulet.
4. (British dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A passage for water; gutter.
5. A street.

• strond (obsolete)

• Rosslare Strand

strand (third-person singular simple present strands, present participle stranding, simple past and past participle stranded)

1. (transitive, nautical) To run aground; to beach.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To leave (someone) in a difficult situation; to abandon or desert.
3. (transitive, baseball) To cause the third out of an inning to be made, leaving a runner on base.

   Jones pops up; that's going to strand a pair.

4. (transitive, grammar) To leave an element (e.g., an adposition) without its complement adjacent to it.
   • 1985, Joan Maling, Annie Zaenen, “Preposition-Stranding and Passive”, in Nordic Journal of Linguistics, volume 8, number 2, →DOI, page 199:

     We first note that wh-movement can freely strand prepositions in Icelandic, as in the other Scandinavian languages.

   • 2021, Emily Manetta, “Verb-second and the verb-stranding verb phrase ellipsis debate”, in Glossa: a journal of general linguistics‎^[1], volume 6, number 1, →DOI, page 6:

     In her dissertation, Goldberg (2005) offers a review of diagnostics used to identify verb-stranding VPE to that point, including tests which link the characteristics of English-style VPE (which strands an auxiliary verb) to verb-stranding VPE in languages like Hebrew and Irish.

• (run aground): beach
• (leave someone in a difficult situation): abandon, desert

Origin uncertain. Cognate with Scots stran, strawn, strand (“strand”). Perhaps the same as strand ("rivulet, stream, gutter"; see Etymology 1 above); or from Middle English *stran, from Old French estran (“a rope, cord”), from Middle High German stren, strene (“skein, strand”), from Old High German streno, from Proto-West Germanic *strenō, from Proto-Germanic *strinô (“strip, strand”), from Proto-Indo-European *strēy-, *ster- (“strip, line, streak, ray, stripe, row”); related to Dutch streng (“skein, hank of thread, strand, string”), German Strähne (“skein, hank of thread, strand of hair”). Compare also Old High German stranga (“strand of hair”), modern German Strang (“strand, thread, cord”).

strand (plural strands)

1. Each of the strings which, twisted together, make up a yarn, rope or cord.
2. A string.
3. An individual length of any fine, string-like substance.

   strand of spaghetti

   strand of hair

4. (electronics) A group of wires, usually twisted or braided.
5. (broadcasting) A series of programmes on a particular theme or linked subject.
   • 2020, Nichola Dobson, Historical Dictionary of Animation and Cartoons, page 45:

     By 1985, the children's strand had been renamed Children's BBC (CBBC by the mid-1990s), which continued to show animation among other programming in a dedicated time slot.

6. (figurative) An element in a composite whole; a sequence of linked events or facts; a logical thread.

   strand of truth

   • 2001, Bernard E. Harcourt, chapter 6, in Illusion of Order:

     The explanation draws equally from other contemporary strands of political and social theory.

   • 2004, David Wray, Literacy: Major Themes in Education, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 78:

     She responds to both questions in writing and checks her answer on the fact question. Her suspicions confirmed about the importance of the two names, Miranda vows to pay close attention to this strand of the story as she continues to read.

   • 2024 August 21, 'Industry Insider', “The value of rail reopenings”, in RAIL, number 1016, page 68:

     The concept of a combined authority headed by an elected Mayor is a key strand in current transport development, and is driving a new generation of projects such as bringing rail connectivity to Portishead and stations served by the Mid-Cornwall Metro.

7. (genetics) A nucleotide chain.
9. (Philippines, education)
   1. (formal) A specialization of a senior high school track.
   2. (informal) Synonym of track.

• See also Thesaurus:string

Note: many languages have particular words for “a strand of <substance>” that are different for each substance. The translations below refer to strands in general. You might find a more appropriate translation under the word for the substance itself.

strand (third-person singular simple present strands, present participle stranding, simple past and past participle stranded)

1. (transitive) To break a strand of (a rope).
2. (transitive) To form by uniting strands.

• Arndts, trDNAs, drants, darsn't

From Dutch strand, from Middle Dutch strant.

• IPA^(key): /strant/

• Audio:

  (file)

strand (plural strande, diminutive strandjie)

1. beach

From Old Norse strǫnd.

• IPA^(key): /stran/, [sd̥ʁɑnˀ]

strand c (singular definite stranden, plural indefinite strande)

1. beach
2. shore, seashore
3. seaside

strand

1. imperative of strande

• “strand” in Den Danske Ordbog

• IPA^(key): /strɑnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: strand
• Rhymes: -ɑnt
• Homophone: Strand

From Middle Dutch strant. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

strand n (plural stranden, diminutive strandje n)

1. beach, strand

• Afrikaans: strand

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

strand

1. inflection of stranden:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

From German Strand.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃtrɒnd]
• Rhymes: -ɒnd

strand (plural strandok)

1. beach (a sandy shore of a body of water used for summertime leisure, swimming, suntanning)
2. pool, swimming pool (an urban open-air facility with lawns, trees and several artificially constructed pools, used for summertime leisure)

• strandol
• strandos

(Compound words):

• strandcipő
• strandpapucs
• strandtáska

• strand in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Deverbal from stranda (“to run aground”).

• IPA^(key): /strant/
• Rhymes: -ant

strand n (genitive singular strands, nominative plural strönd)

1. running aground, stranding

strand

1. alternative form of stronde

From Old Norse strǫnd.

strand f or m (definite singular stranda or stranden, indefinite plural strender, definite plural strendene)

1. a beach or shore

• nakenstrand
• sandstrand
• strande
• strandlinje

strand

1. imperative of strande

• “strand” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse strǫnd. Akin to English strand.

• IPA^(key): /strɑnd/, /strɑnː/

strand f (definite singular stranda, indefinite plural strender, definite plural strendene)

1. a beach or shore

• nakenstrand
• sandstrand
• strande
• strandlinje

• “strand” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-Germanic *strandō.

• IPA^(key): /strɑnd/

strand n

1. beach
2. shore
   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, "Gospel of Saint John", chapter 21, verse 4

     Witodlīce on ǣrne merġen sē Hǣlend stōd on þām strande; ne ġecnēowon þēah ðā leorningcnihtas þæt hit sē Hǣlend wæs.

     Certainly at early morning the Healer (Jesus) stood at the shore; Though the disciples did not recognise that it was the Healer (Jesus).

Strong a-stem:

• Middle English: stronde, strande, stron, strond, strounde, strone (Late Middle English)
  • English: strand (obsolete strond)
  • Scots: strand
  • Yola: sthroane, sthroan, sthrone, stronde
• → Old French: estrande, estran

From Old Swedish strand, from Old Norse strǫnd, from Proto-Germanic *strandō, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)trAnt-.

• Audio:

  (file)

strand c

1. beach (not necessarily sandy)

   ligga och sola på stranden

   [lie and] sunbathe on the beach

2. shore
   • 1891, “Betlehems stjärna (Gläns över sjö och strand) [Star of Betlehem (Shine over sea [most likely in this context, though unusual – see sjö (“lake; sea”)] and shore [Maybe to be understood as "land and sea/water"])]”, Viktor Rydberg (lyrics), Alice Tegnér (music)‎^[2]:

     Gläns över sjö och strand, stjärna ur fjärran. Du som i Österland tändes av Herran.

     Shine over sea and shore, star from [out of] afar. You who in the East ["East-land" – the Orient] were lit by the Lord.

   • 1932, Evert Taube, “Calle Schewens vals [Calle Schewen's Waltz]”‎^[3]:

     I Roslagens famn på den blommande ö, där vågorna klucka [old present tense plural, usually kluckar] mot strand, och vassarna vagga [old present tense plural, usually vaggar] och nyslaget hö, det doftar emot mig ibland.

     In Roslagen's embrace on the flowering island, where the waves lap ["cluck" – onomatopoeic] against shore [sic – indefinite], and the reeds sway and of freshly mown hay, it wafts [smells pleasantly, "scents"] towards me sometimes [sic].

More strongly associated with beaches compared to English shore, but works as a general word for shore when context is provided. Swedish often prefers phrases with land (“land”) instead, for example "Vi seglade mot land" (We sailed toward the shore) and "in mot land" (into shore – "in toward land"). See also for example i land (“ashore”).

• strand in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• strand in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• strand in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)