Statuesque is from 'statue' (via Old French from Latin 'statua', an image, from 'statuere', to set up, from 'stare', to stand) plus the suffix '-esque', in the manner of. Important recorded forms include statua (Latin), stare (Latin), and *steh₂- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense is largely compositional, with the historical elements narrowing into a stable English lexical item. In current use it covers attractively tall and dignified like a statue. The wider family includes derived forms such as statuesquely and statuesqueness and related words such as statue and statuary.