stench

EnglishEdit

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”).

stench (plural stenches)

a strong foul smell; a stink.
(figuratively) A foul quality.
the stench of political corruption
(obsolete) A smell or odour, not necessarily bad.
- a. 1701, 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.

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 (zh), 恶臭 (zh) (èchòu), 臭 (zh) (chòu), 腐臭 (zh) (fǔchòu), 臭氣 (zh), 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)

metaphorically, a foul quality

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

(obsolete) To cause to emit a disagreeable odour; to cause to stink.
- 1729, Edward Young, Imperium Pelagi:
  Dead bards stench every coast
To stanch.