stincan

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *stinkwan.

Verb

stincan

1. to give off a smell

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: stinken
  • Dutch: stinken
    • Afrikaans: stink
    • Negerhollands: stink
    • → Sranan Tongo: tingi
      • → Saramaccan: tíngi
  • Limburgish: stinke

Further reading

• “stinkan”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *stinkwan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstin.kɑn/, [ˈstiŋ.kɑn]

Verb

stincan

1. to smell (give off a scent; intransitive)
   • c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English

     Oleō: "iċ stince swōte."

     Oleo: "I smell sweet."

   • late 9th century, Old English Martyrology

     Þā āhlēop sē līchama sōna upp of þām wætre and þæt hēafod on ōðerre stōwe, and sē līchama stanc and þæt hēafod swā swōte swā rosan blostma and līlian.

     Then the body suddenly jumped out of the water, along with the head in another place, and the body and the head both smelled as sweet as a blossom of roses and lilies.

2. to stink (smell bad; intransitive)
   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, John 11:39

     Sē Hǣlend cwæþ, "Dōþ on weġ þone stān." Þā cwæþ Martha tō him, "Dryhten, nū hē stincþ: hē wæs for fēower dagum dēad."

     Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Then Martha said, "Lord, by now he's going to stink: he's been dead for four days."

   • late 10th century, Ælfric, Lives of Saints

     Þā hālgan wurdon ġebrōhte tō blindum cwearterne þǣr manna līc lǣgon þe wǣron ǣr ācwealde on þām cwearterne ġefyrn, þā wēollon eall maðum eġeslīċe stuncon.

     The saints were taken to a dark prison where they found the corpses of people who had long since been killed, which were swarming with maggots and stank horribly.

Conjugation

Conjugation of stincan (strong class 3)

infinitive	stincan	stincenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	stince	stanc
second person singular	stincst	stunce
third person singular	stincþ	stanc
plural	stincaþ	stuncon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	stince	stunce
plural	stincen	stuncen
imperative
singular	stinc
plural	stincaþ
participle	present	past
	stincende	(ġe)stuncen

Derived terms

• ġestincan

Related terms

• stenċ

Descendants

• Middle English: stynken, stynkkyn, stenke, styngke, stynke, stinken
  • Scots: stink
  • English: stink