FromMiddle Englishstaunch,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] fromAnglo-Normanestaunche,Old Frenchestanche(“firm; watertight”) (modernFrenchétanche(“airtight; watertight”)), a variant ofestanc(“a pond”),[2] fromestanchier(“to stop the flow of a liquid (blood, water, etc.); to make (something) watertight; to quench (thirst)”) (modernFrenchétancher), possibly from one of the following:
Yet if I knevv, / VVhat Hoope ſhould hold vsſtaunch from edge to edge / Ath'vvorld [of the world]: I vvould perſue it.
A figurative use, likening hope to a ship.
1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Great Storm Described, the Long-Boat Sent to Fetch Water, the Author Goes with It to Discover the Country.[…]”, inTravels into Several Remote Nations of the World.[…][Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London:[…]Benj[amin] Motte,[…],→OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag),page153:
Our Proviſions held out vvell, our Ship vvasſtaunch, and our Crevv all in good Health; but vve lay in the utmoſt diſtreſs for VVater.
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.”, inA 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 theUniversity, for Richard Davis,→OCLC,page160:
[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 continueſtanch 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 continuedſtanch vve made one fair Tryal vvith it,[…]
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 aſtanch and ſolid peece of frame-vvork, as any January could freeze together.
[T]he house astanch 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, exceedingstanch and pretty.
1692,John Ray, “The Fourth Question Resolved, Whether Shall there Be Any Signs or Forerunners of the Dissolution of the World?”, inMiscellaneous Discourses Concerning the Dissolution and Changes of the World.[…], London:[…] Samuel Smith,[…],→OCLC,page178:
[T]he VVorld continues ſtill as firm andſtaunch 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?
1856 May 10 (date written),Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Scotland.—Glasgow. May 10th.[1856.]”, inPassages from the English Note-books of Nathaniel Hawthorne, volume II, Boston, Mass.:Fields, Osgood, & Co., published1870,→OCLC,page34:
This part of the castle was burned last autumn; but it is now under repair, and the wall of the tower is stillstanch and strong.
VVe may commend / A Gentlemans modeſty, manners, and fine language, /[…] / Yet, though he obſerue, and vvaſte his ſtate vpon vs, / If he beſtanch and bid not for the ſtocke / That vve vvere borne to traffick vvith; the truth is / VVe care not for his company.
It is therefore probable that De la Marck might have effected his escape,[…] but for thestaunch 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 wasstaunch, however, to church and king, and full of old-fashioned prejudices.
[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 astaunch believer in)[…]
2023 June 12, Tom Dart, “US culture wars come to baseball as MLB celebrates Pride month”, inThe Guardian[1],→ISSN:
The fast-food chain Chick-fil-A was founded by astaunch Christian, is closed on Sundays and has previously donated to organisations with anti-LGBTQ+ stances.
Never at any time in its history has there been so much universal anger at and criticism of the Southern. The railway'sstaunchest friends must concede that most of it is justified.
2005 September 21, Kin-Ming Liu, “In East Asia, there is more than one way to rise”, inThe New York Times[2]:
China's real issue with Japan, disguised by historical complaints, lies in the fact that Japan under Koizumi has become astauncher ally of the United States.
1575, Jacques du Fouilloux, “Certaine Observations and Subtleties to be Used by Huntsmen in Hunting an Hart at Force”, inGeorge Gascoigne, transl.,The Noble Art of Venerie or Hunting.[…], London:[…]Thomas Purfoot, published1611,→OCLC,page112:
[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 otherſtanch old hound of the kennell, in the which they may aſſie themſelues. For oldſtaunch 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.
a.1678 (date written),Isaac Barrow, “The Ninth Sermon.1 Thess[alonians] 4. 11.”, inSeveral Sermons against Evil-Speaking, London:[…] Brabazon Aylmer,[…], published1678,→OCLC,page105:
It is good to be veryſtaunch 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;[…]
FromMiddle Englishstaunchen,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],[4] fromAnglo-Normanestauncher,estaunchier,estanger,Old Frenchestancher,estanchier(verb)[and other forms];[3] see further atetymology 1 and atstanch.
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, / Andſtaunch the bleedings of a broken heart;[…]
[T]he iron head of a square cross-bow bolt disengaged itself from the wound, the bleeding wasstaunched, the wound was closed, and the dying man was, within the quarter of an hour, walking upon the ramparts,[…]
Stanch is more commonly used as the spelling of the verb compared tostaunch, especially in the United States; whilestaunch is more common as the spelling of theadjective, withstanch now regarded as archaic.Prescriptively, some readers may assume that reversals of these preferences are incorrect.
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, December 2022;“staunch1,adj.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.