stanch
verbEtymology
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], 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: * 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)”). Etymology 2 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. Cognates * Catalan estancar (“to hold up, block, halt (something); to come to a standstill; to stagnate”) * Galician estancar (“to stop (the flow of blood, water, etc.)”) * Italian stancare (“to tire out”) * Occitan estancar * Portuguese estancar (“to stop (the flow of blood); to stop (an action); to come to a standstill; to exhaust, weary”) * Spanish estancar (“to stop (the flow of water, etc.); to stop (an action); to stagnate”)
8 senses
- 1To stop the flow of (water or some other liquid).
- 2To stop the flow of (blood); also, to stop (a wound)…
- 3To make (a building or other structure) watertight or…
- 4To check or stop, or deter (an action).
- 5To stop the progression of (an illness); also, to…
- 6To extinguish or put out (as a fire, anger, etc.); also…
- 7Of bleeding: to stop.
- 8Of an occurrence or other thing: to come to an end; to…
Otherwise archaic
- I will couer the depe vpon him, I will ſtaunch his floudes, and the greate waters ſhalbe reſtrayned.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:
Otherwise archaic
- A small amount of cotton can be stuffed into the nose to stanch the flow of blood if necessary.
- [A] hẽnes [henne's] brayne is beſt: whiche (as Auicen ſaith) ſtancheth bledynge at yͤ noſe.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:
4 more examples
- It [rhubarb] is good againſt ſpitting of bloud, and ſtancheth it, out of vvhat part ſoeuer it runne.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:
- 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.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:
- 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.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:
- 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; […]1709, Matthew Prior, “Henry and Emma. […]”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], Edinburgh: James Nichol, […], published 1858, →OCLC, page 153, lines 358–361:
Otherwise archaic
- His gathered sticks to stanch the wall / Of the snow-tower, when snow should fall; […]1847, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Threnody”, in Poems, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 240:
US, Especially To check or stop, or deter (an action).
- [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?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:
- [T]heir feud would be stanched by the death of one, or probably both, of the villains, […]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:
1 more example
- Beijing devotes immense resources to restricting access for and stanching scrutiny from international groups and reporters.2019 March 1, Andrew McCormick, “What It's Like to Report on Rights Abuses against Your Own Family”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Dec 2022:
US, Especially To stop the progression of (an illness); also, to alleviate (pain); often followed by of: to relieve (someone's) pain.
- It [squill] ſtancheth the ache of the ſtomack⸝ it helpeth digeſtion⸝ and maketh a man well colored.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:
- 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.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:
US, Especially, Obsolete To extinguish or put out (as a fire, anger, etc.); also, to quench or satisfy (as desire, hunger, thirst, etc.).
- [A]s an angry Cur / Snarles vvhile he feeds, ſo vvill I ſeize and ſtanch / The hunger of my love on this proud beauty, / And leave the ſcraps for Slaves.1679, [John] Dryden, [Nathaniel] Lee, Oedipus: A Tragedy. […], London: […] R. Bentley and M. Magnes […], →OCLC, Act I, pages 6–7:
US, Also, Especially Of bleeding: to stop.
- 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.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 8:43–44, column 1:
- [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.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:
- Derived terms
- stanchable, stanched, stancher, stanching, stanchless, unstanchable