# staunch

> English word · Adjective · IPA /stɔːn(t)ʃ/ · frequency rank #22,515

## Definitions
1. Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
2. Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
3. Strongly built; also, in good or strong condition.
4. Staying true to one's aims or principles; firm, resolute, unswerving.
5. Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy.
6. Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy.
7. Cautious, restrained.
8. Stubborn, intransigent.

## Etymology
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”)

## Easily confused with
- **stench** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staunch-vs-stench)
- **staunchly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staunch-vs-staunchly)
- **stance** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stance-vs-staunch)
- **starch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/starch-vs-staunch)

## Common misspellings (11)
`satunch`, `sstaunch`, `stanuch`, `staucnh`, `stauncch`, `staunchh`, `staunhc`, `staunnch`, `sttaunch`, `stuanch`, `tsaunch`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/staunch