staunch.
Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
Meaning & usage
Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight. Impermeable to air or other gases; airtight.
Strongly built; also, in good or strong condition.
Staying true to one's aims or principles; firm, resolute, unswerving.
Without our staunch front line the enemy would have split the regiment.
Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy.
He’s been a staunch supporter of mine through every election.
Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy. Of a hunting dog: that can be depended on to pick up the scent of, or to mark, game.
Cautious, restrained.
Stubborn, intransigent.
Where this word comes from
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”)
That which stanches or checks a flow.
That which stanches or checks a flow. A plant or substance which stops the flow of blood; a styptic.
An act of stanching or stopping.
Synonym of afterdamp (“suffocating gases present in a coal mine after an explosion caused by firedamp”).
Where this word comes from
Either: * from Middle English staunche, stanche (“something which stops the flow of blood; (figuratively) shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)”), from Old French estanche (“pond; tank”), from estanc (“pond”) (modern French étang (“pond; lagoon”)), from estanchier (verb): see further at etymology 2; and/or * derived directly from the verb.
Alternative spelling of stanch.
Where this word comes from
From 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 (verb) [and other forms]; see further at etymology 1 and at stanch.
Alternative spelling of stanch (“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”).
Where this word comes from
See stanch (etymology 4).
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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.