# stint

> English word · Verb · IPA /stɪnt/ · frequency rank #12,867

## Definitions
1. To stop (an action); cease, desist.
2. To stop speaking or talking (of a subject).
3. To be sparing or mean.
4. To restrain within certain limits; to bound; to restrict to a scant allowance.
5. To assign a certain task to (a person), upon the performance of which he/she is excused from further labour for that day or period; to stent.
6. To impregnate successfully; to get with foal.

## Etymology
From Middle English stinten, from Old English styntan (“to make blunt”) and *stintan (attested in āstintan (“to make dull, stint, assuage”)), from Proto-West Germanic *stuntijan, from Proto-Germanic *stuntijaną and Proto-Germanic *stintaną (“to make short”), probably influenced in some senses by cognate Old Norse *stynta, stytta (“to make short, shorten”).

## Easily confused with
- **suit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-suit)
- **stir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-stir)
- **stun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-stun)
- **stone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-stone)
- **swing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-swing)
- **swift** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-swift)
- **stunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-stunt)
- **suing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-suing)
- **swine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-swine)
- **stout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-stout)
- **stony** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-stony)
- **stung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-stung)
- **strut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-strut)
- **strat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-strat)
- **stipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-stipe)
- **sturt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-sturt)
- **string** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-string)
- **strict** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stint-vs-strict)
- **sit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sit-vs-stint)
- **sin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sin-vs-stint)

## Common misspellings (8)
`sitnt`, `sstint`, `stinnt`, `stintt`, `stitn`, `stnit`, `sttint`, `tsint`

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