styptic, a. and n.
(ˈstɪptɪk)
Forms: 5 stiptik, -tyk, 5–6 styptyke, 6–7 -tike, 5–7 stiptike, 6 -tyke, 5–8 stiptick(e, styptique, (7 stiptict, stiticke), 7 stypticke, 7–8 styptick, stiptic, 7– styptic.
[ad. late L. stypticus, a. Gr. στυπτικός, f. στύϕ-ειν to contract, have an astringent effect upon. Cf. F. styptique.]
A. adj.
1. a. Having the power of contracting organic tissue; having an austere or acid taste; harsh or raw to the palate; having a binding effect on the stomach or bowels.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 98 Diete him with colde metis & stiptik. c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 81 Al stiptik þingz bene repressiue of humours. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xi. 281 The stiptyk whyte [wine] a stomak that is laxe Wole helpe. 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 74 And so is Sowerish tast called Sapor Pontick, And lesse Sower allso called Sapor Stiptick. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. vii. (1541) 18 b, Meates stiptike or rough on the tonge, byndeth and comforteth appetite. 1578 Lyte Dodoens vi. lxviii. 745 The gal [of the oak] is also very binding and stiptique. 1610 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. v, What's that? A Lullianist? a Ripley?.. Know you the sapor pontick? sapor stiptick? 1620 Venner Via Recta viii. 188 Take..some stypticke thing after meale..that may inhibit the ascending of vapors, by closing vp the mouth of the stomack. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. xii. 338 There is a sowre, stipticke salt diffused through the earth, which passing a concoction in plants, becommeth milder and more agreeable unto the sense. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. (1735) 250 Austere, astringent, vegetable Substances..; as Several sorts of Plumbs,..distinguishable by their rough styptick Taste... Pomegranates, which contain a Juice styptick, and extremely cooling. 1804 Med. Jrnl. XII. 30 Dogberry tree... The berries of this tree have a styptic quality, and are bitter to the taste. 1871 Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 3) 88 An orange-brown solution, with a strong styptic taste. |
b. Of a medicament, etc.: That arrests hæmorrhage. styptic pencil, a stick of styptic substance used to stem the bleeding of small cuts.
| c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 27 Puluer of alum, zucarin combust, ‘bole armenic’, [etc.]..ar..of þe same vertu in regeneracion of flesch an cicatrizacione and þat þai bene al stiptik. 1543 Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. iii. xi. 100 b/2 Ye shal minister this..which is stiptike, & consoundeth or ioyneth together, y⊇ woundes in the guttes. 1658 A. Fox tr. Wurtz' Surg. ii. xiii. 97 These Wounds..ought to be healed with stiptick Plaisters. 1673 Phil. Trans. VIII. 6115 The Royal Styptique liquor was used in the last engagement against the Dutch by the Chirurgions. 1717 Pope Iliad xi. 983 A bitter root he bruised; The wound he wash'd, the styptic juice infused. 1745 R. James Med. Dict. III. s.v. Styptica, I found that many little Trials were made there, also, with a Styptic Ball, mixed with French Brandy. 1872 T. G. Thomas Dis. Women 107 Both these cases readily yielded to the recumbent posture, and the application of cold and styptic compresses. 1880 W. MacCormac Antisept. Surg. 167 Pure spirit is a good application; it is slightly styptic and quite antiseptic. 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 799/2 Styptic Pencils. Used when shaving. Will instantly stop bleeding. 1936 G. Greene Gun for Sale vii. 211 Plying his styptic pencil, sticking the cotton-wool on the longer wounds. 1961 I. Fleming Thunderball i. 9 Bond dabbed with the blood⁓stained styptic pencil at the cut on his chin. 1978 Observer 26 Mar. 29/7 He had dropped his styptic pencil down the washbasin. |
c. fig.
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 98 Find the sawce sowre and stiptick enough in Hell. 1637 Heywood Dial. ii. Wks. 1874 VI. 118 By her the Boy would be so much insenc'd, To aime a shaft in Stiptick poison dipt. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. iii. 56 Not medling with that restraining and styptick surgery which the law uses,..against the eruptions and outermost effects thereof [malice]. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche iii. xcviii, That stiptic Word full in the Priest's face flew, And fastned mystic chains upon his Tongue. |
d. In plant-names.
| 1847 Darlington Amer. Weeds 110 Cassia occidentalis... Styptic Weed. 1864 Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Ind. 788/1 Styptic- or velvet-bur, Priva echinata. |
† 2. Of a person, etc., the bowels: Costive. Obs.
| 1582 J. Hester Secr. Phiorav. iii. lv. 77 This Diatartaro is good..for those that are stiptike of bodie. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 381 A belly neither continually loose nor stiptike. |
B. n.
1. a. A substance having the power of contracting organic tissue.
| a 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 226 Þou schalt avoide þe matere, & þou schalt comforte þe place [the mouth of the stomach] with stiptikis. 1638 tr. Bacon's Life & Death (1650) 37 This inconvenience is remedied..by shutting the mouth of the Stomach strongly, with Stiptickes. 1712–14 Pope Rape Lock ii. 132 Gums and Pomatums shall his flight restrain,..Or Alum styptics with contracting pow'r Shrink his thin essence like a rivel'd flow'r. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. 13 That austere, rough styptic, called alum. |
b. as a remedy for hæmorrhage.
| c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 74 Afterward [after phlebotomy] be þer done suffumigacion or fomentacion of gall, or of..wormode, horsmynt, and sich oþer stiptikez. 1676 Wiseman Chirurg. Treat. v. ix. 399 There was an effusion of bloud..: but having Dossils ready dipt in the Royal Stiptick, we applied them. 1755 Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. (1861) III. 322 Her nose..has already bled 15 or 16 ounces: it is at present stopped by Eaton's Stiptic. 1825 Scott Talism. xiv, The physician..withdrew from the wounded shoulder the fragment of the weapon, and stopped with styptics and bandages the effusion of blood which followed. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 180/2 Those astringents are alone entitled to be called styptics which can be applied directly to the bleeding orifice; and of these some act chemically, others vitally, and others merely mechanically. 1884 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. (ed. 4) I. 481 Astringents or styptics are valuable agents in the arrest of bleeding... ‘Cold’ is a powerful styptic. |
c. fig.
| 1785 G. A. Bellamy Apology (ed. 3) VI. 119 Hope, celestial Comforter! that only Styptic for a bleeding heart. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes II. xii. 120 Again the flow of words is checked by the styptic [sc. a kiss] previously applied. 1858 Mrs. Oliphant Laird of Norlaw III. 92 Vulgar, needful business, the very elements of daily necessity—these are the best styptics for thrusts in the heart. 1879 Dowden Southey ii. 28 He had been squandering his emotions; he had been indulging in a luxury and waste of passion. Here was a tonic and a styptic. |
† 2. A mordant. Obs. rare.
| 1685 W. Cole in Phil. Trans. XV. 1281 The last and most beautifull colour..will..be..of a fair bright Crimson..; which afterwards (notwithstanding there is no use of any Stiptic to bind the colour) will continue the same. |