stench

stench

English

Etymology

From Middle English stench, from Old English stenċ (“stench, odor, fragrance”), from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz (“smell, fragrance, odor”), from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- (“to push, thrust”). Cognate with Dutch stank (“stench, odor”), German Stank, Gestank (“stench, odor, smell”), Danish stank (“stench”), Swedish stank (“stench”), Icelandic stækja (“stench”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɛnt͡ʃ/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntʃ

Noun

stench (plural stenches)

1. a strong foul smell; a stink.
2. (figurative) A foul quality.

   the stench of political corruption

3. (obsolete) A smell or odour, not necessarily bad.
   • a. 1701 (date written)​, John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, OCLC 863244003, page 432:

     Black bulls, and bearded goats on altars lie; / And clouds of ſav'ry ſtench involve the ſky.

Synonyms

• (disagreeable smell): stink, pong (Commonwealth)

Antonyms

• (disagreeable smell): aroma, fragrance, perfume

Derived terms

• stenchy

Translations

a strong foul smell, a stink

Albanian: duhmë (sq) Arabic: نَتَانَة‎ f (natāna) Armenian: գարշահոտություն (hy) (garšahotutʿyun) Basque: kirats (eu) Belarusian: смуро́д m (smuród), вонь f (vonʹ) Bulgarian: смрад (bg) m (smrad), во́ня (bg) f (vónja) Catalan: pudor (ca) f, tuf (ca) m, ferum (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 惡臭／恶臭 (zh) (èchòu), 臭 (zh) (chòu), 腐臭 (zh) (fǔchòu), 臭氣／臭气 (zh) (chòuqì), 臭味 (zh) (chòuwèi) Czech: zápach (cs) m, smrad (cs) m Danish: stank (da) Dutch: stank (nl) m Esperanto: fetoro (eo) Finnish: löyhkä (fi), lemu (fi) French: puanteur (fr) f Galician: tufo m, cheiro (gl) German: Gestank (de) m Greek: μπόχα (el) f (bócha) Ancient: βρῶμος m (brômos), δυσωδία f (dusōdía), δυσοσμία f (dusosmía) Hungarian: bűz (hu) Ilocano: danuor Irish: tuth f, bréantas m, bréine f, mosar f, drochbholadh m Italian: fetore (it) m, puzza (it) f Japanese: 悪臭 (ja) (あくしゅう, akushū), 臭い (ja) (におい, nioi), 臭気 (ja) (しゅうき, shūki), 臭味 (しゅうみ, shūmi) Latin: paedor m, foetor m Latvian: smārds m Macedonian: смрдеа f (smrdea), ре́а f (réa), смрад m (smrad) Malayalam: ദുർഗന്ധം (ml) (duṟgandhaṃ), നാറ്റം (ml) (nāṟṟaṃ) Maori: piro, pirau, haunga, kehakeha, pūhonga Norwegian: Bokmål: stank m Nynorsk: stank m Occitan: pudentor (oc) f Persian: گند‎ (fa) (gand) Plautdietsch: Jestank n Polish: fetor (pl) m, smród (pl) m Portuguese: fedor (pt) Romanian: duhoare (ro) f, putoare (ro) f Russian: вонь (ru) f (vonʹ), смрад (ru) m (smrad), злово́ние (ru) n (zlovónije) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: смра̑д m, во̑њ m Roman: smrȃd (sh) m, vȏnj (sh) m Slovak: zápach m, smrad m Slovene: smrad (sl) m, vonj (sl) m Somali: ur (so) Spanish: hedor (es) m, fetidez (es) f Sudovian: smardas m Swedish: stank (sv) c Tagalog: bansiw Turkish: kötü koku, pis koku, ufunet (tr) (archaic) Ukrainian: сморі́д m (smoríd), вонь f (vonʹ) Volapük: lusmel Walloon: flaireur (wa) f Yiddish: געסרחה‎ f (gesrokhe), אַוויר‎ m (aver)

metaphorically, a foul quality

Verb

stench (third-person singular simple present stenches, present participle stenching, simple past and past participle stenched)

1. (obsolete) To cause to emit a disagreeable odour; to cause to stink.
   • 1729, Edward Young, Imperium Pelagi:

     Dead bards stench every coast

2. To stanch.

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• stenche, stinche, stunch, stynche
• stænc, stinnch (early)

Etymology

Originally two distinct nouns:

• Old English stenċ, from Proto-West Germanic *stankwi, from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz.
• Old English stynċ, from Proto-West Germanic *stunkwi, from Proto-Germanic *stunkwiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɛnt͡ʃ/, /stint͡ʃ/, /stunt͡ʃ/

Noun

stench (plural stenches)

1. A stench; an unpleasant or repulsive smell:
   1. The sulphuric smell of hellfire.
   2. The smell of sin or iniquity.
2. Something that causes or has such a smell.
3. (rare, Early Middle English) A smell or scent (good or bad).

Related terms

• stenchen

Descendants

• English: stench
• Scots: stench, stinch

References

• “stench, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-24.