staunch
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: business
hobbies
hunting
lifestyle
mining
Etymology: 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”)
Inflected forms:
form: stauncher
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: staunchest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: stanch
pos: adj
tags: alternative
archaic
form: staunches
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: stanch
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
pos: adj
examples: Yet if I knevv, / VVhat Hoope ſhould hold vs ſtaunch from edge to edge / Ath'vvorld [of the world]: I vvould perſue it.
Our Proviſions held out vvell, our Ship vvas ſtaunch, and our Crevv all in good Health; but vve lay in the utmoſt diſtreſs for VVater.
gloss: Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
pos: adj
tags: broadly
examples: [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, […]
gloss: Strongly built; also, in good or strong condition.
pos: adj
examples: 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.
[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.
[T]he VVorld continues ſtill as firm and ſtaunch as it vvas three thouſand years ago; and vvhy hereafter it ſhould founder and decay more than it hath done for ſo many Ages heretofore, vvhat reaſon can be given?
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.
gloss: Staying true to one's aims or principles; firm, resolute, unswerving.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: Without our staunch front line the enemy would have split the regiment.
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.
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: […]
And you are ſtaunch indeed in learning's cauſe, / If you can crovvn a diſcipline that dravvs / Such miſchiefs after it, vvith much applauſe.
They seemed completely satiated with the vengeance they had prosecuted with such staunch and sagacious activity.
It is therefore probable that De la Marck might have effected his escape, […] but for the staunch pursuit of Quentin, his uncle Le Balafré, and some of his comrades.
My father was amazingly ignorant—so ignorant, in fact, as not to know that he knew nothing. He was staunch, however, to church and king, and full of old-fashioned prejudices.
Is it like you, who have known me so long and sought my advice in all matters—like you, who from a girl have had a strong mind and a staunch heart?
[T]ouching the much vexed question of stimulants he relished a glass of choice old wine in season as both nourishing and bloodmaking and possessing aperient virtues (notably a good burgundy which he was a staunch believer in) […]
The fast-food chain Chick-fil-A was founded by a staunch Christian, is closed on Sundays and has previously donated to organisations with anti-LGBTQ+ stances.
gloss: Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: He’s been a staunch supporter of mine through every election.
[T]here ain't a stauncher-hearted gal going, or I'd have cut her throat three months ago.
Never at any time in its history has there been so much universal anger at and criticism of the Southern. The railway's staunchest friends must concede that most of it is justified.
China's real issue with Japan, disguised by historical complaints, lies in the fact that Japan under Koizumi has become a stauncher ally of the United States.
gloss: Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: [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.
For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch, / Vindictive toiled the blood-hounds staunch; […]
Beatte especially, was as staunch as a veteran hound.
gloss: Cautious, restrained.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
obsolete
examples: 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 do nothing themſelves, muſt be reflecting upon the doings of others; […]
gloss: Stubborn, intransigent.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
gloss: That which stanches or checks a flow.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: That which stanches or checks a flow.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
obsolete
specifically
gloss: An act of stanching or stopping.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: Synonym of afterdamp (“suffocating gases present in a coal mine after an explosion caused by firedamp”).
pos: noun
Derived words: staunchly
staunchness
Translations: