stain.
A discolored spot or area caused by spillage or other contact with certain fluids or substances.
Meaning & usage
A discolored spot or area caused by spillage or other contact with certain fluids or substances.
A blemish on one's character or reputation.
A substance used to soak into a surface and colour it.
A reagent or dye used to stain microscope specimens so as to make some structures visible.
One of a number of non-standard tinctures used chiefly in post-medieval heraldry, especially tenné, murrey, or sanguine.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English steinen, steynen (“to stain, colour, paint”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse steina (“to stain, colour, paint”), from steinn (“stone, mineral blue, colour, stain”), from Proto-Norse ᛊᛏᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ (stainaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”), from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”). Cognate with Old English stān (“stone”). More at stone. Replaced native Middle English wem (“spot, blemish, stain”), from Old English wamm (“spot, stain”). In some senses, influenced by unrelated Middle English disteynen (“to discolor, remove the colour from"; literally, "de-colour”), from Anglo-Norman desteindre (“to remove the colour from, bleach”), from Old French destaindre (“to remove the color from, bleach”), from des- (“dis-, de-, un-”) + teindre (“to dye”), from Latin tingo.
To discolor, as by spilling or other contact with a fluid or substance.
to stain the hand with dye
armour stained with blood
To taint or tarnish someone's character or reputation
To coat a surface with a stain
to stain wood with acids, coloured washes, paint rubbed in, etc.
the stained glass used for church windows
To become stained; to take a stain.
To treat (a microscopic specimen) with a dye, especially one that dyes specific features
To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English steinen, steynen (“to stain, colour, paint”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse steina (“to stain, colour, paint”), from steinn (“stone, mineral blue, colour, stain”), from Proto-Norse ᛊᛏᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ (stainaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”), from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”). Cognate with Old English stān (“stone”). More at stone. Replaced native Middle English wem (“spot, blemish, stain”), from Old English wamm (“spot, stain”). In some senses, influenced by unrelated Middle English disteynen (“to discolor, remove the colour from"; literally, "de-colour”), from Anglo-Norman desteindre (“to remove the colour from, bleach”), from Old French destaindre (“to remove the color from, bleach”), from des- (“dis-, de-, un-”) + teindre (“to dye”), from Latin tingo.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.