Join free

stound

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

stound¹

  • /staʊnd/ UK
  • /stuːnd/ UK
  • /staʊnd/ US
  • /stund/ US

Rhymes with -aʊnd, -uːnd

Where it comes from

From Middle English stond, stounde, stound (“hour, time, season, moment”), from Old English stund (“a period of time, while, hour, occasion”), from Proto-West Germanic *stundu, from Proto-Germanic *stundō (“point in time, hour”), from Proto-Indo-European *stut- (“prop”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”).

Cognate with Scots stound (“while, period of time, moment, sudden pain, pang, stroke, blow”), dated Dutch stond (“hour, time, moment”), Low German Stund (“hour”), German Stunde (“hour”), Danish stund (“time, while”), and Swedish stund (“time, while”). Compare Middle English stunden (“to linger, stay, remain for a while”), Icelandic stunda (“to frequent, pursue”). Related to stand.

noun stounds · stund · stoind · stoond · stoon · stoun

  1. dialectal, obsolete An hour. What booth wilt thou have? our king reply'd / Now tell me in this stound
  2. obsolete A tide, season.
  3. archaic, dialectal A time, length of time, hour, while. He lay and slept, and swet a stound, / And became whole and sound.

    Similar: span, duration, interval, period, period of time, tide, time, time interval, time period, timespan, space, stound

  4. archaic, dialectal A brief span of time, moment, instant. Listen to me a little stound.

    Similar: jiffy, second, bat of an eye, bit, blink of an eye, crack, eyeblink, flash, glimpse, half a mo, instant, jiff

  5. A moment or instance of urgency; exigence.
  6. dialectal A sharp or sudden pain; a shock, an attack. No wonder that they cried unto the Lord, and felt a stound of despair shake their courage
  7. A stroke or blow (from an object or weapon); (by extension) a lashing; scourging How many pipes, as many sounds Do still impart To your Sonne's hart / As many deadly wounds : How many strokes, as many stounds, Each stroke a dart, Each stound a smart, Poore captive me confounds.
  8. A fit, an episode or sudden outburst of emotion; a rush. Several stounds of pain in the cleft between great and second toe (anterior tibial nerve). I forget which side, but I think it was the right. Slight pains in left temple, > pressure. Pain in upper part of right eyeball.
  9. Astonishment; amazement. Lightly he started up out of that stound.

verb stounds · stounding · stounded · stund · stoind

  1. dialectal, intransitive, obsolete To hurt, pain, smart. Your wrath, weak boy ? Tremble at mine unless Retraction follow close upon the heels Of that late stounding insult […]
  2. dialectal, intransitive, obsolete To be in pain or sorrow, mourn.
  3. dialectal, intransitive, obsolete To long or pine after, desire. Recently weaned children "stound after the breast."

stound²

  • /staʊnd/ UK
  • /stuːnd/ UK
  • /staʊnd/ US
  • /stund/ US

Rhymes with -aʊnd, -uːnd

Where it comes from

From Middle English stounden, stunden (“to linger, stay, remain for a while”), from Old English *stundian, from Proto-West Germanic *stundōn, from Proto-Germanic *stundōną. Cognate with German stunden (“to defer payment, give time to pay”), Icelandic stunda (“to frequent, pursue”). More at stand.

verb stounds · stounding · stounded

  1. intransitive, obsolete To stand still; stop.
  2. UK, dialectal, intransitive To stop to listen; pause.

noun stounds

  1. UK, dialectal A stand; a stop.

stound³

  • /staʊnd/ UK
  • /stuːnd/ UK
  • /staʊnd/ US
  • /stund/ US

Rhymes with -aʊnd, -uːnd

Where it comes from

From Middle English stound, stonde, stoonde, ston, from Old English stond (“a stand”). Compare stand.

noun stounds

  1. A receptacle for holding small beer. Will Ardnamurchan never end? We're four stounds in a metal box [...]

Translations

Every language

noun a moment or instance of urgency; exigence

Русскийсрочность sročnostʹ

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"stound." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/stound. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

stound. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/stound

Chicago

"stound." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/stound.

BibTeX
@misc{stound_2026,
  title = {stound},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/stound},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}