▪ I. stound, n.1
(staʊnd, stuːnd)
Forms: 1–3 stund, 3 stunde, 3–5 stonde, 4–6 stond, (4 stunt, 4–5 stont), 3–6 stounde (4 stounte), 4–6 stownd(e, (5 stowndde, stouunde, stowunde), 4– stound; 6 stowne, 8–9 Sc. stoun.
[Com. Teut. (wanting in Gothic): OE. stund fem. = OFris. stunde, OS. stunda (Du. stond), OHG. stunta space of time (MHG., mod.G. stunde hour), ON. stund (Sw., Da. stund):—OTeut. *stundō.]
1. A time, while; a short time, moment. Obs. exc. dial.
| a 1000 Andreas 1210 Nis seo stund latu þæt þe wælreowe witum belecgað. a 1225 Ancr. R. 190 A sicnesse of ane stunde. a 1275 Prov. ælfred 312 So his mani wimman..Scene under scete, and þoh hie is scondes ful in an stondes wile. a 1300 Cursor M. 24496 Quen i him had in armes fald,..þan bigan mi gle to gru,..And neud me mi stondes [Gött. stundis]. a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sci. (Wright) 13 That is evene above thin heved, aboute the nones stounde. 14.. Erthe upon Erthe 34/75 God lytyd in erth, blyssed be that stounde! c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 412 Evur he contynewid in syngyng, prayers-saying, and wurshippyng our Lady vnto þe stounde of dead. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 56 Hobbin, ah hobbin, I curse the stounde, That euer I cast to haue lorne this grounde. 1602 Davison Rhapsody (1611) 39 Wo worth the stund wherein I tooke delight To frame the shifting of my nimble feete. 1603 B. Jonson Entert. Althrope 2 Now they Print it on the Ground With their feete in figures round, Markes that will be euer found, To remember this glad stound. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle, etc. (1871) 129 Soe death is heer and yonder in one stound. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 25 Scrimply there pass't a stound o' time. 1838 Holloway Prov. Dict., Stound, a short period of time. |
b. As advb. accus.
| a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xxv. 68 Ðæt is wyrse ᵹet, þæt he winnan nyle Wið ðæm anwalde æniᵹe stunde. a 1123 O.E. Chron. an. 1106, On þære forman længten wucan..ætywyde an unᵹewunelic steorra, & lange stunde þæræfter wæs ælce æfen ᵹesewen. c 1200 Ormin 6576 Þatt sume off ure little flocc..Hemm wendenn oþerr stund fra Crist. c 1200 Moral Ode 149 (Trin. Coll. MS.) Hadde he fonded sume stunde he wolde seggen oðer. c 1205 Lay. 3117, & þus ane stonde [c 1275 stunde] hit stod æ ðon ilka. a 1300 X Commandm. 22 in E.E.P. (1862) 16 Alas wrecchis whi do we so hit mai noȝt hold vre lif a stunde. a 1300 Cursor M. 14557 In ephraim dueld he a stunde And þeþen-ward son can he funde. 13.. Bonaventura's Medit. 878 Fro wepyng she ne myȝt stynte no stounde. a 1340 Hampole Psalter li. 5 Þof he lat þe lif a stunt in welth. c 1400 Assump. Virg. 727 (Add. MS.) And euer þei cryede many a stounde, ‘Alas’! [etc.]. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7012 Þidir he went, and bade a stont. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 56 He was so abasshed, that he was almoste mad, and stoode styffe a stownde. 1557 Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 257 Elde..Will turne eche blysse into a blast, Which lasteth but a stounde. 1567 Turberv. Epit. etc. 91 Vlysses wiues renowne Unsitting is for hir whose loue endureth but a stowne. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. ii. 609 So that this vapour, never resting stound, Stands never still, but makes his motion round. 1594 R. C[arew] Godfrey of Bulloigne (1881) 85 Like him that lookes ech stond with bared necke, When cruell axe shall his liues warrant checke. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xix. xxviii, His legges could beare him but a little stound. 1895 E. Angl. Gloss. s.v., He stayed a long stound. |
† c. In advb. phrases with preps., e.g. for, in, on a (little) stound, in many stounds, in that stound. by stounds: at intervals, from time to time, by turns. umbe stound: see umstound. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 8815 Hærde bi-ðrungen i wel feole stunden. a 1225 Ancr. R. 310 A mon þet hefde al þene world awold, & hefde, uor his cweadschipe, uorloren al on one stunde. a 1225 Juliana 7 Ant efter lutle stounde wið ute long steuene. a 1250 Prov. ælfred 395 Ac al he schal for-leten on a litel stunde. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1567 Bot ȝet þe styffest to start bi stoundez he made. c 1350 St. Christina 179 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 95 He was so stonayd in þat stunt He strake him self fast in þe frunt. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv. met. vi. (1886) 111 The moyste thinges stryuynge with the drye thinges yeuen place by stowndes. a 1400 Pistill of Susan 167 Alle hire seruauns þei shont And stelen a-wey in a stont. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. x. 80, I within ane litle stound, The clud of dirknes from thi sicht sall cleir. a 1529 Skelton P. Sparowe 34 Within that stounde,..in a sounde I fell downe to the grounde. 1575 Gammer Gurton Prol. 7 He quyetly perswaded with her in that stound Dame Chat, her deare gossyp, this needle had found. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. vi. 364 Abiding, for a stown, Pale, cold, and sense less, in a deadly swown. |
† d. often-stounds, oft-stounds: often. [Cf. often-sithes, -whiles, oftentimes.] that stounds [? advb. genitive]: at that moment. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3083 Ȝyf þou delyte þe oftyn stoundes, yn horsys, haukys, or yn houndes. a 1400 Octouian 893 Men blamede the bochere oft stoundys For hys sone. a 1400 King & Hermit 56 He blew thrys, vncoupuld hundes; They reysed þe dere vp þat stondes. |
† e. ? An hour. Obs.
| c 1325 Lai le Freine 207 To-day, right in the morning, Sone after the first stounde, A litel maiden-childe ich founde. |
† f. The time for doing something; one's ‘hour’ or opportunity. Obs.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1263 Nu is ower stunde! 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10873 In þe kinges chaumbre..was A clerc ifounde..He made him as bi wit, so þat it was ifounde, Þat it was bi speke to sle þe king, wan he sei stounde. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11332 Al þe nobleye couthe y nought telle, Ne y naue no stounde þer-on to dwelle. |
2. † a. Contextually: A hard time, a time of trial or pain. Obs.
| a 1000 Riddles (Tupper) xciii. 19 No ic þa stunde bemearn ne for wunde weop. c 1250 Owl & Night. 706 Þe Nihtegale..hedde onswere god ifunde Among alle hire harde stunde. c 1300 Cursor M. 17152, I..sufferd her þis herd stondes, and ded on þis rode tre. c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 238 Alas! the harde stounde. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 25 Such percing griefe her stubborne hart did wound, That she could not endure that doleful stound. |
b. Hence, a sharp pain, a pang; a fierce attack, a shock. Chiefly north. Also (Sc.), a thrill (of delight).
| c 1300 Cursor M. 24541 In sterin stanging was i stadd, Sa war mi stundes store. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1540 Þe stronge strok of þe stonde strayned his ioyntes. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 140 He rouschit doun off blud all rede, As he that stound feld off dede. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4472 What avayleth hir good wille, Whan she ne may staunche my stounde ille? 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxii. 98 Than straik at me with mony ane stound. c 1550 Rolland Crt. Venus i. 641 As he that said, to his hart straik ane stound. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. 99 Lyke deidly dartis thow geuis stang & stound. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. May 257 Iesus..keepe your corpse from the carefull stounds, That in my carrion carcas abounds. 1596 ― F.Q. vi. vi. 5 Their wounds..had festred privily; And ranckling inward with unruly stounds, The inner parts now gan to putrify. 1659 H. More Immort. Soul iii. xiv. 477 The stounds and agonies of Death. 1788 Burns To the Weavers gin ye go 16 But every shot and every knock, My heart it gae a stoun. 1789 ― Blue⁓eyed Lassie 11 And aye the stound, the deadly wound, Cam frae her een sae bonnie blue. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Stound, the sensation or first impression of sudden pain, arising from a knock or blow. 1827 J. Wilson Noctes Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 355 My heart has gien a sudden-stoun o' uncommunicable delicht. 1834 Pringle Afr. Sk. 17 Oft as he feels gaunt hunger's stound. 1878 Sir T. Martin tr. Heine 18 Then I felt a stound through all my frame. |
c. Roar, violent noise.
| 1627 Drayton Nymphidia liv, By the Thunders dreadfull stound. 1658 Burton Comment. Itin. Antoninus 150 After this storm and stound..it flourished again. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. iv, One can fancy with what dolorous stound the noon-tide cannon..went off there. |
† 3. Station, position. Obs.
| 1557 N. Grimalde in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 104 What power haue you so great..To pluck, to draw, to rauish hartes, and stirre out of ther stownd? 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. ii. iii. F viij, Stande still in stounde, kepe whishte (I say) whilste I doe proue you mad. 1567 ― Ep. xvi. To Quintius E vij, Well might thou saye that freshe Tarent were brought into this stounde. Ibid. F j, He hath forsoke of manlines the stounde [L. locum virtutis deseruit]. 1570 Levins Manip. 220/40 A stound, statio, terminus. 15.. Pater Sapientiæ lxxx. in Ashm. (1652) 204 For when the Larke ys weary above in hys stound, Anon he falleth right downe to the ground. |
† 4. Used for: stadium. Obs. rare—1.
[Perh. some error: cf. G. stunde (hour) as an itinerary measure.]
| 1656 W. Dugard tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. §524. 155 A hundred twenty-five Geometrical paces, make a stound or furlong. |
▪ II. stound, n.2 Now dial.
(staʊnd, stuːnd)
Also 8 stownd.
[App. f. stound v.2; but perh. a use of stound n.1 2 b, modified by association with the vb.]
A state of stupefaction or amazement.
| 1567 Golding Ovid's Met. xiii. (1593) 298 [He] raised soberly his eye-lids from the ground (On which he had a little while them pitched in a stound). 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. vi. 12 Lightly he started up out of that stound. 1610 Fletcher Faithf. Sheph. ii. ii. (1634) D 1, Whilst the sound Breakes against heaven, and drives into a stound The amazed Shepherd. 1667 Pepys Diary 3 Apr., This put us all into a stound. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 120 We having warily held, the stirr'd body not to be at rest, or in a stound or pause at all, but alwayes to be either stirring or bearing. 1677 Gilpin Dæmonol. (1867) 440 Though at first some good men were overawed to..recant,..yet..after the stound and dazzle of the temptation was over, they recoiled so resolutely upon them, that [etc.]. 1714 Gay Sheph. Week. Prol. 23 Thus we stood as in a stound. 1767 Mickle Concub. ii. Introd., In musefull Stownd Syr Martyn rews His Youthhedes thoughtlesse Stage. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 194 Flew frae ae pillar to the tither, Syn in a stound did drap. 1859 Miss Mulock Life for Life II. 184, I laugh now..to recollect what a stound it gave us both, this utterly improbable..tale. |
▪ III. † stound, n.3 dial. Obs.
[Unexplained var. of stand n.2]
(See quots.)
| 1674 Ray N.C. Words 46 A Stound q. Stand; a wooden Vessel to put small Beer in. [So in many later Glossaries.] 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Stound, a Vessel of Earth or Wood that stands on end. 1721 Mortimer Husb. II. 332 If the quantity of your choicest Cyder be too great for your Bottles, you may..make use of..Stounds of Flanders Earth. |
▪ IV. stound, v.1
Also 3 stunde.
[f. stound n.1]
† 1. [stound n.1 1.] intr. To remain, stay. Obs.
Cf. obs. dial. ‘Stound, to stop, stand still, esp. in order to listen’ (Suffolk and Essex): see Eng. Dial. Dict.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1987 Ðor was in helle a sundri stede, wor ðe seli folc reste dede; ðor he stunden til helpe cam. Ibid. 3211 Ðor he stunden for to sen quilc pharaon wið hem sal ben. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 10902 When Arthur felde þat he was wounded, Noþyng he ne stinte ne stounded. 14.. Sir Beues (S.) 1283 On knee he him set, he nolde stound, And ȝaue vp his deth with his hold. |
2. [stound n.1 2 b.] † a. trans. To affect with a ‘stound’ or pang; to cause great pain to. Obs. b. intr. To be acutely painful; to smart, throb. Only Sc. and north.
| c 1500 Kennedy Passion of Christ 450 Thai hurt his [back] and all his body þai fret, Saris his senonis and stoundis all his wanis. Ibid. 552 On him to luk þair stomok sair it stoundis. 1513 Douglas æneis x. x. 135 So tyll hys hart stoundis the prik of deith. a 1585 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 741 His wounds ȝit, quhilk stounds ȝit, He gat them than throw thee. 1678 J. Brown Life of Faith i. vii. (1824) 137 Every ingredient that affecteth thee stounds his heart. 1724 Ramsay Health 294 For the least noise stounds thro' his ears like death. a 1792 Burns Bonie Wee Thing 3 And my heart it stounds wi' anguish, Lest my wee thing be na mine. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Stound, to ache, to smart, to be in pain. 1848, 1910 [see stounding ppl. a.1]. |
▪ V. stound, v.2 Now dial.
(staʊnd, stuːnd)
Also 4, 7 stund, 5 stond.
[Aphetic var. of astound v., or extended form of stoun v.]
1. trans. To stun as with a blow; to stupefy, benumb; to stupefy with astonishment, bewilder.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 7558 Quat! wyns þou i am a hund, Wit þi stans me for to stund? a 1420 Aunters of Arthur xlvii. 602 (Douce MS.) The knighte of corage was cruel and kene, And withe a stele bronde þat sturne oft stonded. 1587 Harrison England iii. vii. 231/1 in Holinshed, Mastiffes..take also their name of the word mase and theefe..bicause they often stound and put such persons to their shifts. 1600 Holland Livy i. xli. 24 That the king was stounded with a sudden blow [L. sopitum fuisse regem subito ictu] but the weapon did not go very deep into his body. 1609 T. Heywood Brit. Troy xii. xci. 262 But him the Woorthy stounded with a blow. a 1617 Bayne Lect. (1634) 302 The Chirurgion bindeth and stoundeth before cutting, that the patient may be lesse grieved. 1629 in Bibl. Regia II. 236 The fatal blow given your most loyal servant..hath so stounded our University as (like a body without a soul) she stirs not. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 218 They are slain every mother's son of them. Yet perhaps they are but stounded and may revive again. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 221 At the sight..of this River, the Pilgrims were much stounded. 1689 Dialogue Timothy & Titus 4 I'le protest you've stunded me. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Stound. 1. To stun. 2. To overcome with astonishment. |
† 2. intr. To be bewildered or at a loss.
| 1531 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 98 The seid Mayer and Burgeys many tymes stound and be in grett ambuyguyte to execute such old graunts. |