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staunch

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staunch¹

  • /stɔːn(t)ʃ/ UK
  • /stoːn(t)ʃ/ Australia, British, New Zealand, Southern, Standard
  • /stɔn(t)ʃ/
  • /stɑn(t)ʃ/ cot caught merger
  • /stɔn(t)ʃ/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɔːntʃ, -ɑːntʃ

Where it comes from

From Middle English staunch, staunche (“(adjective) in good condition or repair; solidly made, firm; watertight; of a person or wound: not bleeding; certain; intact; (adverb) firmly, soundly”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman estaunche, Old French estanche (“firm; watertight”) (modern French étanche (“airtight; watertight”)), a variant of estanc (“a pond”), from estanchier (“to stop the flow of a liquid (blood, water, etc.); to make (something) watertight; to quench (thirst)”) (modern French étancher), possibly from one of the following:

* From Vulgar Latin *stagnicāre, from Latin stāgnum (“piece of standing water, pond; fen, swamp”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂g- (“to drip; to seep”).

* From Vulgar Latin *stānticāre, from *stānticus (“tired”), from Latin stāns, stāntis (“standing; remaining, staying”). Stāns is the present active participle of stō (“to stand; to remain, stay”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”).

Cognates

* Italian stanco (“bored; tired”)

* Portuguese estanque (“watertight”)

* Romansh staunza (“a room”)

* Spanish estanco (“closed, sealed; airtight; watertight”)

adjective stauncher · staunchest · stanch

  1. Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight. Yet if I knevv, / VVhat Hoope ſhould hold vs ſtaunch from edge to edge / Ath'vvorld [of the world]: I vvould perſue it.
  2. broadly Impermeable to air or other gases; airtight. [T]vvas very difficult to procure a Bladder ſmall and fine enough for that litle Cylinder; and that one, vvhich at length vve procured, vvould not continue ſtanch for many Tryals, but vvould after a vvhile part vvith a litle Air in the vvell exhauſted Receiver, vvhen tvvas clog'd vvith the utmoſt VV
  3. Strongly built; also, in good or strong condition. Hovv goodly, and hovv to be vviſht vvere ſuch an obedient unanimity as this, vvhat a fine conformity vvould it ſtarch us all into? doubtles a ſtanch and ſolid peece of frame-vvork, as any January could freeze together.
  4. figuratively Staying true to one's aims or principles; firm, resolute, unswerving. Without our staunch front line the enemy would have split the regiment.
  5. figuratively Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy. He’s been a staunch supporter of mine through every election.
  6. figuratively Of a hunting dog: that can be depended on to pick up the scent of, or to mark, game. [T]he horſemen & huntſmen ſhould blemiſh at ſuch places as they ſee the Hart enter into a thicket or couert to the end that if the hounds fall to change, they may return to thoſe blemiſhes, and put their hounds to the right ſlot and view, vntill they haue rowzed or found him againe with their bloudh
  7. figuratively, obsolete Cautious, restrained. It is good to be very ſtaunch and cautious of talking about other Men and their Concernments, in vvay of paſſing Characters on them, or deſcanting upon their Proceedings for vvant of other Diſcourse: This is the common refuge of Idleneſs, and the practice of fidling Goſſips, vvho becauſe they vvill
  8. figuratively Stubborn, intransigent.

staunch²

  • /stɔːn(t)ʃ/ UK
  • /stoːn(t)ʃ/ Australia, British, New Zealand, Southern, Standard
  • /stɔn(t)ʃ/
  • /stɑn(t)ʃ/ cot caught merger
  • /stɔn(t)ʃ/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɔːntʃ, -ɑːntʃ

Where it comes from

From Middle English staunchen, staunche (“to stop the flow of blood, diarrhoea, or other bodily fluids; to alleviate, ease; to appease, assuage, satisfy; to cure; to overcome; to put an end to; to repress, suppress; of a river or stream: to stop flowing; of waters, wind, or weather: to become calm, subside; to extinguish or put out (a fire)”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman estauncher, estaunchier, estanger, Old French estancher, estanchier (verb) [and other forms]; see further at etymology 1 and at stanch.

verb staunches · staunching · staunched

  1. alternative Alternative spelling of stanch.stanch I will couer the depe vpon him, I will ſtaunch his floudes, and the greate waters ſhalbe reſtrayned.

staunch³

  • /stɔːn(t)ʃ/ UK
  • /stoːn(t)ʃ/ Australia, British, New Zealand, Southern, Standard
  • /stɔn(t)ʃ/
  • /stɑn(t)ʃ/ cot caught merger
  • /stɔn(t)ʃ/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɔːntʃ, -ɑːntʃ

Where it comes from

Either:

* from Middle English staunche, stanche (“something which stops the flow of blood; (figuratively) shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)”), from Old French estanche (“pond; tank”), from estanc (“pond”) (modern French étang (“pond; lagoon”)), from estanchier (verb): see further at etymology 2; and/or

* derived directly from the verb.

noun staunches · stanch

  1. obsolete That which stanches or checks a flow.
  2. archaic, obsolete, specifically A plant or substance which stops the flow of blood; a styptic.
  3. obsolete An act of stanching or stopping.
  4. Synonym of afterdamp (“suffocating gases present in a coal mine after an explosion caused by firedamp”).

staunch⁴

  • /stɔːn(t)ʃ/ UK
  • /stoːn(t)ʃ/ Australia, British, New Zealand, Southern, Standard
  • /stɔn(t)ʃ/
  • /stɑn(t)ʃ/ cot caught merger
  • /stɔn(t)ʃ/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɔːntʃ, -ɑːntʃ

Where it comes from

See stanch (etymology 4).

noun staunches

  1. alternative Alternative spelling of stanch (“a floodgate by which water is accumulated, for floating a boat over a shallow part of a stream by its release; also, a dam or lock in a river”).stanch

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