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Staunch vs Stern - What's the difference?

staunch | stern |

As an adjective staunch

is loyal, trustworthy, reliable, outstanding.

As a verb staunch

is to stop the flow of (blood).

As a noun stern is

a star; a small luminous dot that can be seen on the night sky.

staunch

English

Alternative forms

* stanch

Adjective

(er)
  • loyal, trustworthy, reliable, outstanding
    • He's been a staunch supporter of mine through every election.
  • * , Episode 16
    • he relished a glass of choice old wine in season as both nourishing and bloodmaking and possessing aperient virtues (notably a good burgundy which he was a staunch believer in)
  • dependable, persistent
  • * Without our staunch front line the enemy would have split the regiment.

    • Verb

    (es)
  • To stop the flow of (blood).
  • To stop, check, or deter an action.
  • * Somebody's got to staunch those press leaks!

    • Usage notes

    The spelling staunch'' is more commonly used for the adjective. In contrast, ''stanch is more commonly used as the spelling of the verb.

    Anagrams

    * *

    stern

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) stern, sterne, sturne, from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
  • * (John Dryden)
    • stern as tutors, and as uncles hard
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=76, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Snakes and ladders , passage=Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins.}}
  • Grim and forbidding in appearance.
  • * (William Wordsworth)
    • these barren rocks, your stern inheritance

    Etymology 2

    Most likely from (etyl) , from the same Germanic root.

    Noun

    (wikipedia stern) (en noun)
  • (nautical) The rear part or after end of a ship or vessel.
  • * , chapter=7
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Old Applegate, in the stern', just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the ' stern .}}
  • (figurative) The post of management or direction.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • and sit chiefest stern of public weal
  • The hinder part of anything.
    • (Spenser)
  • The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog.
    • Antonyms
    * bow
    Derived terms
    * from stem to stern * sternpost
    See also
    * keel

    Etymology 3

    (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A bird, the black tern.

    • Anagrams

    * * * * ---- ==Mòcheno==

    Noun

    (m)
  • (l) (luminous dot appearing in the night sky)

    • References

    *