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Origin and history of stench

stench(n.)

Middle English stench, from Old English stenc, stync "a smell, odor, scent, fragrance" (pleasant or unpleasant), from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz (source also of Old Saxon stanc, Old High German stanch, German stank).

Related to stink (v.) as drench is to drink, as clench is to cling.

The sense in Old English tended toward "bad smell" (especially of body odor or the stink of decay, also of Hell), and this predominated from c. 1200. The verb in Old English, stencan, meant only "emit an evil smell." Related: Stenchy; stenchful.

Entries linking to stench

clench(v.)

"to grasp firmly," c. 1300, from Old English (be)clencan "to hold fast, make cling," causative of clingan (see cling, and compare clinch); compare stench/stink. Meaning "to set firmly together" (of fists, teeth, etc.) is from 1747 (clinch in this sense is attested from 1630s). Figurative sense of "fix or secure by a final act" is from 1670s. Related: Clenched; clenching.

cling(v.)

Old English clingan "hold fast, adhere closely; congeal, shrivel" (strong verb, past tense clang, past participle clungen), from Proto-Germanic *klingg- (source also of Danish klynge "to cluster;" Old High German klinga "narrow gorge;" Old Norse klengjask "press onward;" Danish klinke, Dutch klinken "to clench;" German Klinke "latch").

The main sense shifted in Middle English to "adhere to" (something else), "stick together." Of persons in embrace, c. 1600. Figuratively (to hopes, outmoded ideas, etc.), from 1580s. Of clothes from 1792. Related: Clung; clinging.

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Trends of stench

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

drench
c. 1200, "to submerge, sink; drown, kill by drowning," from Old English drencan "give drink to, ply with drink, make drunk; soak, saturate; submerge, drown," causative of drincan "to drink" (see drink (v.)), from Proto-Germanic *drankijan (source also of Old Norse drekkja, Swedis
drink
Old English drincan "to swallow water or other fluid," also "to swallow up, engulf" (class III strong verb; past tense dranc, past participle druncen), from Proto-Germanic *drenkanan (source also of Old Saxon drinkan, Old Frisian drinka, Dutch drinken, Old High German trinkan, Ge
reek
Middle English reke "smoke, fumes; steam, vapor," from Old English rec (Anglian), riec (West Saxon), "smoke from burning material," probably from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse reykr, Danish rǿg, Swedish rök "smoke, steam." These are reconstructed to be from Proto-German
weasel
see bison), with a base sense of "stinking animal," because both animals have a foul, musky smell (compare Latin vissio "stench...
apartheid
Now it has such a stench in the nostrils of the world, they are referring to "autogenous development."...
bad
plochoj, related to Old Church Slavonic plachu "wavering, timid;" Persian gast, Old Persian gasta-, related to gand "stench...
odor
c. 1300, "sweet smell, scent, fragrance," from Anglo-French odour, from Old French odor "smell, perfume, fragrance" (12c., Modern French odeur) and directly from Latin odor "a smell, a scent" (pleasant or disagreeable), from PIE root *hed- "to smell" (source also of Latin olere "
door
"movable barrier, commonly on hinges, for closing a passage into a building, room, or other enclosure," c. 1200, a Middle English merger of two Old English words, both with the general sense of "door, gate": dor (neuter; plural doru) "large door, gate," and duru (fem., plural dur
rood
Middle English rode, "a cross; a crucifix," especially a large one, from Old English rod "cross," especially that upon which Christ suffered, from Proto-Germanic *rod- (source also of Old Saxon ruoda "stake, pile, cross," Old Norse roða, Old Frisian rode, Middle Dutch roede, Old
consume
late 14c., "to destroy by separating into parts which cannot be reunited, as by burning or eating," hence "destroy the substance of, annihilate," from Old French consumer "to consume" (12c.) and directly from Latin consumere "to use up, eat, waste," from assimilated form of com-,

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