Wiktionary

stanch

English

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WOTD – 18 October 2023

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English stanch, a variant of 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];[1] see further at staunch.[2]

Adjective

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stanch (comparative stancher, superlative stanchest)

  1. Archaic spelling of staunch.
    a stanch ship    a stanch churchman
    • 1575, Jacques du Fouilloux, “Certaine Observations and Subtleties to be Used by Huntsmen in Hunting an Hart at Force”, in George Gascoigne, transl., The Noble Art of Venerie or Hunting. […], London: […] Thomas Purfoot, published 1611, →OCLC, page 112:
      [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 bloudhound, or with ſome other ſtanch old hound of the kennell, in the which they may aſſie themſelues. For old ſtaunch houndes which will not hunt change, when they ſee an Hart rowzed & before them, they neuer call on, nor once open: but if they be young raſh houndes, they will runne with full cry & ſo take change.
    • 1624, Phillip [i.e., Philip] Massinger, The Bond-man: An Antient Storie. […], London: […] Edw[ard] Allde, for Iohn Harison and Edward Blackmore, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene iii, signature [B4], recto:
      VVe may commend / A Gentlemans modeſty, manners, and fine language, / […] / Yet, though he obſerue, and vvaſte his ſtate vpon vs, / If he be ſtanch and bid not for the ſtocke / That vve vvere borne to traffick vvith; the truth is / VVe care not for his company.
    • 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 27:
      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.
    • 1669, Robert Boyle, “Experiment XLVII. About an Attempt Made to Measure the Force of the Spring of Included Air, and Examine a Conjecture about the Difference of Its Strength in Unequally Broad Mouth’d Vessels.”, in A Continuation of New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, Touching the Spring and Weight of the Air, and Their Effects. The I. Part. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Henry Hall, printer to the University, for Richard Davis, →OCLC, page 160:
      [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 VVeight it could ſuſtain: but vvhilſt it continued ſtanch vve made one fair Tryal vvith it, […]
    • 1679 August 2 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 23 July 1679]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 511:
      [T]he house a stanch good old building, and what was singular, some of the roomes floor'd dove-tail-wise without a nail, exactly close. One of the closetts is parquetted with plaine deale, set in diamond, exceeding stanch and pretty.
    • 1689 May 24 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Mat[thew] Prior, “An Epistle to Fleetwood Shephard, Esq”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], published 1709, →OCLC, page 20:
      In Politicks, I hear, you're ſtanch, / Directly bent againſt the French; / Deny to have your free-born Toe / Dragoon'd into a VVooden Shoe: […]
    • 1856 May 10 (date written), Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Scotland.—Glasgow. May 10th. [1856.]”, in Passages from the English Note-books of Nathaniel Hawthorne, volume II, Boston, Mass.: Fields, Osgood, & Co., published 1870, →OCLC, page 34:
      This part of the castle was burned last autumn; but it is now under repair, and the wall of the tower is still stanch and strong.

Adverb

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stanch (comparative more stanch, superlative most stanch)

  1. (obsolete) Possibly strictly.
    • 1693, [John Locke], “§102”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC, page 119:
      But you vvill loſe your Labour, and vvhat is more, their Love and Reverence too, if they can receive from others, vvhat you deny them. This is to be kept very ſtanch, and carefully to be vvatched.

Etymology 2

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From Middle English stanch, stanche [and other forms], a variant of 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],[3] from Anglo-Norman estauncher, estaunchier, estanger, Old French estancher, estanchier (“to stop the flow of a liquid (blood, water, etc.); to make (something) watertight; to quench (thirst)”) (modern French étancher (“to stop the flow of a liquid; to make watertight; to quench (thirst); (figuratively) to assuage, quench, satiate”) [and other forms], possibly from one of the following:

Sense 1.2 (“to make (a building or other structure) watertight or weatherproof”) is derived from French étancher (“to stop water from flowing, make watertight”), from Old French estanchier (verb): see above.[4]

cognates

Verb

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stanch (third-person singular simple present stanches, present participle stanching, simple past and past participle stanched) (especially American spelling)

  1. (transitive, archaic except poetic) To stop the flow of (water or some other liquid).
    • 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Ezechiel xxxj:[15], folio lxviij, recto, column 2:
      I will couer the depe vpon him, I will ſtaunch his floudes, and the greate waters ſhalbe reſtrayned.
    1. To stop the flow of (blood); also, to stop (a wound) from bleeding.
      A small amount of cotton can be stuffed into the nose to stanch the flow of blood if necessary.
      • 1530, [attributed to Giovanni da Milano; annotated by Arnaldus de Villa Nova], translated by Thomas Paynell, Regimen Sanitatis Salerni. […] [Rule of Health of Salerno], London: […] Thomas Berthelet, […], →OCLC, folio T, verso:
        [A] hẽnes [henne's] brayne is beſt: whiche (as Auicen ſaith) ſtancheth bledynge at yͤ noſe.
      • 1601, Peter de la Primaudaye [i.e., Pierre de La Primaudaye], “Of Rhubarb, Licorice, Aloes, Sene, Saffron and Centurie”, in R. Dolman, transl., The Third Volume of the French Academie: Contayning a Notable Description of the Whole World, and of All the Principall Parts and Contents thereof: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] [i]mpensis Geor[ge] Bishop, →OCLC, page 353:
        It [rhubarb] is good againſt ſpitting of bloud, and ſtancheth it, out of vvhat part ſoeuer it runne.
      • 1608, Iohn White, “The Preface to the Reader, Touching the Present Controuersies betweene Us and the Romish Church”, in The Way to the True Church: […], London: […] [Richard Field] for Iohn Bill and William Barret, →OCLC:
        Hallovved be thou Veruein, as thou grovveſt on the ground, / For in the mount of Caluary there thou vvas firſt found: / Thou healedſt our Sauiour Ieſus Chriſt, and ſtanchedſt his bleeding vvound: / In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoſt, I take thee frõ the ground.
      • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “I. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, page 22:
        Bloud is ſtanched diuers vvayes. […] As Iron, or a Stone laid to the necke doth ſtanch the Bleeding at the Noſe; Alſo it hath beene tried, that the Teſticles, being put into ſharpe Vinegar, hath made a ſudden Receſſe of the Spirits, and ſtanched Bloud.
      • 1709, Matthew Prior, “Henry and Emma. […]”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], Edinburgh: James Nichol, […], published 1858, →OCLC, page 153, lines 358–361:
        Touched in the battle by the hostile reed, / Shouldst thou (but Heaven avert it!) shouldst thou bleed; / To stanch the wounds, my finest lawn I'd tear, / Wash them with tears, and wipe them with my hair; […]
      • 1715, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book IV”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 11, lines 228–229:
        Novv ſeek ſome skilful Hand vvhoſe povv'rful Art / May ſtanch th' Effuſion and extract the Dart.
      • 1782, William Cowper, “Retirement”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 274:
        He that has not uſurp'd the name of man, / Does all, and deems too little, all he can, / T' aſſuage the throbbings of the feſter'd part, / And ſtaunch the bleedings of a broken heart; […]
      • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter VII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 178:
        [T]he iron head of a square cross-bow bolt disengaged itself from the wound, the bleeding was staunched, the wound was closed, and the dying man was, within the quarter of an hour, walking upon the ramparts, […]
      • 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Elaine”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 174:
        Then came the hermit out and bare him in, / There stanch'd his wound; […]
      • 1985, Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian […] , →OCLC, page 57:
        Dust stanched the wet and naked heads of the scalped who with the fringe of hair below their wounds and tonsured to the bone now lay like maimed and naked monks in the bloodslaked dust and everywhere the dying groaned and gibbered and horses lay screaming.
    3. To make (a building or other structure) watertight or weatherproof.
      • 1847, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Threnody”, in Poems, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 240:
        His gathered sticks to stanch the wall / Of the snow-tower, when snow should fall; […]
  2. (transitive) To check or stop, or deter (an action).
    • 1612 January 13 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Thomas Sutton, “Englands Summons. Hosea 4. 1, 2, 3.”, in Englands First and Second Summons. Two Sermons Preached at Pauls Crosse, […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Norton, published 1633, →OCLC, pages 52–53:
      [W]hy ſhould a man refuſe the glad tydings of ſalutation, or ſtop his eares at the voyce of the skilfull charmer, becauſe the meſſenger that brings the tydings, is ouertaken vvith ſome knovvne ſinne? Or becauſe hee that charmeth, ſtancheth not the iſſue of his ovvne corruption?
    • 1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 24:
      [T]heir feud would be stanched by the death of one, or probably both, of the villains, […]
    • 2019 March 1, Andrew McCormick, “What It’s Like to Report on Rights Abuses against Your Own Family”, in The Atlantic‎[1], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-15:
      Beijing devotes immense resources to restricting access for and stanching scrutiny from international groups and reporters.
    1. To stop the progression of (an illness); also, to alleviate (pain); often followed by of: to relieve (someone's) pain.
      • 1562, Wylliam Turner [i.e., William Turner], “Of the Sea Unyon Called Squilla”, in The Second Parte of Guilliam Turners Herball⸝ […], Cologne: […] Arnold Birckman, →OCLC, folio 131, recto:
        It [squill] ſtancheth the ache of the ſtomack⸝ it helpeth digeſtion⸝ and maketh a man well colored.
      • 1578, Thomas Brasbri[d]ge, “The Vertues of Angelica, out of D[octor] [William] Turners Herbal”, in The Poore Mans Iewel, that is to Say, A Treatise of the Pestilence. […], London: […] [Thomas Dawson?] for George Byshop, →OCLC, folio [D vii], recto:
        The water of the ſame [angelica root], in a colde cauſe, is good to be layd on places diſeaſed with the Goute and Sciatica. For it ſtancheth the pain, and melteth a waye the tough humours that are gathered togither.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To extinguish or put out (a fire, anger, etc.); also, to quench or satisfy (desire, hunger, thirst, etc.).
  4. (intransitive, also reflexive) Of bleeding: to stop.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 8:43–44, column 1:
      And a woman hauing an iſſue of blood twelue yeres, which had ſpent all her liuing vpon Phiſitions, neither could be healed of any, / Came behinde him [Jesus], and touched the border of his garment: and immediatly her iſſue of blood ſtanched.
    • 1655, Lazarus Riverius [i.e., Lazare Rivière], “Of Bleeding at the Nose, Called Hæmorrhagia”, in Nicholas Culpeper, Abdiah Cole, and William Rowland, transl., The Practice of Physick, […], London: […] Peter Cole, […], →OCLC, 4th book (Of the Diseases of the Nostrils), page 118:
      [G]iving a dram and a half of Lapis Prunellæ in cold VVater, preſently the blood ſtanched vvhen the ſame and other Medicines could not formerly do it.
  5. (intransitive, also reflexive, obsolete) Of an occurrence or other thing: to come to an end; to cease; also, of persons: to stop acting violently.
Usage notes
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Stanch is more commonly used as the spelling of the verb compared to staunch, especially in the United States; while staunch is more common as the spelling of the adjective, with stanch now regarded as archaic. Prescriptively, some readers may assume that reversals of these preferences are incorrect.

Conjugation
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Conjugation of stanch
infinitive (to) stanch
present tense past tense
1st-person singular stanch stanched
2nd-person singular stanch, stanchest† stanched, stanchedst†
3rd-person singular stanches, stancheth† stanched
plural stanch
subjunctive stanch stanched
imperative stanch —
participles stanching stanched

†Archaic or obsolete.

Alternative forms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 3

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See staunch (etymology 3).

Noun

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stanch (plural stanches)

  1. Alternative spelling of staunch (“that which stanches; act of stanching”)

Etymology 4

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From Old French estanche (“pond; tank”), from estanc (“pond”) (modern French étang (“pond; lagoon”)), from estanchier (verb): see further at etymology 2.[5]

Noun

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stanch (plural stanches)

  1. 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.
Alternative forms
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Translations
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References

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  1. ^ “staunch(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ Compare “stanch2, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “staunchen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 “stanch | staunch, v.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2022; “stanch1, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. ^ “stanch | staunch, n.2”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2022.

Further reading

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  • Edward H[enry] Knight (1877) “Stanch”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes III (REA–ZYM), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC, page 2306, column 2: “A flood-gate for accumulating a head of water in a river to float boats over shallows, when it is allowed to escape.”

Anagrams

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