stain

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 blee, colour, stain”), from Proto-Norse ᛊᛏᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ (stainaz), from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”), from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”). Cognate with Old English stān (“stone”). More at stone.

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.

• IPA^(key): /steɪn/
• Rhymes: -eɪn

stain (plural stains)

1. A discoloured spot or area.
2. A blemish on one's character or reputation.
3. A substance used to soak into a surface and colour it.
   • 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 93:

     The wood will darken whether it is stained or not—the main function of a stain is to enhance the wood's natural color and emphasize its grain.

4. A reagent or dye used to stain microscope specimens so as to make some structures visible.
5. (heraldry) Any of a number of non-standard tinctures used in modern heraldry.

• bloodstain
• Giemsa stain
• Leishman stain
• Romanowsky stain
• Wright-Giemse stain
• Wright's stain

stain (third-person singular simple present stains, present participle staining, simple past and past participle stained)

1. (transitive) To discolour.

   to stain the hand with dye

   armour stained with blood

2. To taint or tarnish someone's character or reputation
   • (Can we date this quote?) Milton

     Of honour void, / Of innocence, of faith, of purity, / Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained.

3. 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

4. (intransitive) To become stained; to take a stain.
5. (transitive, cytology) To treat (a microscopic specimen) with a dye, especially one that dyes specific features
6. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Beaumont and Fletcher

     She stains the ripest virgins of her age.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Spenser

     that did all other beasts in beauty stain

• Astin, Insta, Saint, Santi, Sinta, Tanis, Tians, antis, insta-, saint, sat in, satin, stian, tians, tisan

stain

1. Romanization of 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽

From Old Norse steinn (“stone”), from Proto-Norse ᛊᛏᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ (stainaz), from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”). Cognate with English stone, German Stein, Dutch steen, Danish sten, Norwegian Bokmål sten, Norwegian Nynorsk stein, Swedish sten, Faroese steinur, West Frisian stien, Low German Steen. Ultimately from Pre-Germanic *stoyh₂nos, o-grade from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”).

stain m

1. stone, rock, as material or individual piece of rock or pebble

stain

1. Alternative form of stonen

From Old Norse steinn (“stone”), from Proto-Norse ᛊᛏᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ (stainaz), from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”). Cognate with English stone, German Stein, Dutch steen, Danish sten, Norwegian Bokmål sten, Norwegian Nynorsk stein, Swedish sten, Faroese steinur, West Frisian stien, Low German Steen. Ultimately from Pre-Germanic *stoyh₂nos, o-grade from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”).

stain m

1. stone, rock, as material or individual piece of rock or pebble

• stäin
• stejn