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 (Southern England):

    (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, 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

• (antonym(s) of “disagreeable smell”): aroma, fragrance, perfume

Derived terms

• stench bomb
• stench trap
• stench trench
• stenchy

 

Translations

a strong foul smell, a stink

• Albanian: duhmë (sq), erë e keqe
• Arabic: نَتَانَة f (natāna)
• Armenian: գարշահոտություն (hy) (garšahotutʻyun)
• Asturian: fedor (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: üfunət (az)
• Basque: kirats (eu)
• Belarusian: смуро́д m (smuród), вонь f (vonʹ)
• Bulgarian: смрад (bg) m (smrad), воня́ (bg) f (vonjá)
• Catalan: pudor (ca) f, tuf (ca) m, ferum (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 惡臭 / 恶臭 (ok³ cau³)

  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)
• Georgian: სიმყრალე (simq̇rale), ყროლა (q̇rola)
• German: Gestank (de) m
• Greek: μπόχα (el) f (bócha)

  Ancient: βρῶμος m (brômos), δυσωδία f (dusōdía), δυσοσμία f (dusosmía)

• Hindi: बास (hi) f (bās), दुर्गंध (hi) f (durgandh), बदबू (hi) f (badbū), गंध (hi) f (gandh), बू (hi) f (bū)
• 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) (akushū), 臭い (ja) (nioi), 臭気 (ja) (shūki), 臭味 (ja) (shūmi)
• Kazakh: сасық иіс (sasyq iıs)
• Korean: 악취(惡臭) (ko) (akchwi), 취기(臭氣) (chwigi)
• Kyrgyz: сасык жыт (sasık jıt)
• Latin: paedor m, foetor m
• Latvian: smārds m
• Macedonian: смрдеа f (smrdea), ре́а f (réa), смрад m (smrad)
• Malayalam: ദുർഗന്ധം (ml) (duṟgandhaṁ), നാറ്റം (ml) (nāṟṟaṁ)
• Maori: piro, pirau, haunga, kehakeha, pūhonga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: stank m

  Nynorsk: stank m

• Occitan: pudentor (oc) f
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: смрадъ m (smradŭ)

• Old East Slavic: смородъ m (smorodŭ)
• 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, peste (es) f, tufo (es) m, fetor m, hediondez (es) f, jedor m (Latin America), pestilencia (es) f
• Sudovian: smardas m
• Swedish: stank (sv) c
• Tagalog: bansiw
• Tajik: бадбӯӣ (badbüi), тааффун (taaffun)
• Turkish: kötü koku, pis koku, ufunet (tr) (archaic)
• Ukrainian: сморі́д m (smoríd), вонь f (vonʹ)
• Uzbek: badboʻy (uz), sassiq (uz)
• 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.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• stenche, stinche, stunch, stynche
• stænc, stinnch (Early Middle English)

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.