STAKE

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English staca; akin to Middle Low German ~ pole, and perhaps to Latin tignum beam Date: before 12th century a pointed piece of wood or other material driven or to be driven into the ground as a marker or support, 2. a post to which a person is bound for execution by burning, execution by burning at a ~, 3. something that is ~d for gain or loss, the prize in a contest, an interest or share in an undertaking or enterprise, a Mormon territorial jurisdiction comprising a group of wards, grub~ , ~s race , II. transitive verb (~d; staking) Date: 14th century to mark the limits of by or as if by ~s, to tether to a ~, bet , wager , to fasten up or support (as plants) with ~s, to back financially, grub~