stallion
(ˈstæljən)
Forms: α. 4 stalun, 4–5 staloun, 4–6 stalon, (5 stalan, stolon, 6 erron. stalume), 6 stallon(e; β. 6 stal(l)ant, stalland(e, staulande, stalaunt; γ. (5 stalyone), 6–7 stalion, (7 stallian, stallyon), 6– stallion.
[a. OF. estalon (mod.F. étalon), whence Anglo-L. stalōnus; corresp. to It. stallone:—popular L. *stallōnem, f. Teut. *stallo- stable, stall n.1 The β forms appear to be due to confusion of the ending with the ppl. suffix -ant (cf. gallande, gallante gallon); the influence which produced the γ forms is obscure.]
1. a. A male horse not castrated, an entire horse, esp. one kept for the purpose of serving mares. Also fig.
| α 1388 Wyclif Eccl. xxxiii. 6 An hors a staloun, so and a frend a scornere, neiȝeth vundur ech sittynge aboue. Ibid. Jer. v. 8 Thei be maad horsis, and stalouns, louyeris to wymmen. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 280 Bot as a cock among the Hennes, Or as a Stalon in the Fennes, Which goth amonges al the Stod. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 799 Fed stalons faat goth now to gentyl maris. Ibid. 802 Let euery stolon haue as he is abul. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 697/40 Hic emissarius, a stalan. 1530 Palsgr. 275/1 Stalume horse, haras. 1537 Darcy in Lett. Suppress. Monasteries (Camden) 158 For ssurly the breed of Gervayes ffor horses was the tryed breed in the northe, the stallones, and mares well ssoortyd. |
| β 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 176, I wyll not sylle my stalant. 1530 Palsgr. 275/1 Stallant a horse, haras. 1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 5 Nobles..hauing parkes, should kepe mares, and finde staulandes for breed and encrease of horses. 1592 Timme Ten Eng. Lepers I 3, In the desire of uncleane lust, they are become like unto stallandes. |
| γ c 1440 Promp. Parv. 472/1 Stalyone, hors, emissarius. 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 126 The stallion that you meane to haue for your race of moiles, must be as faire as you can get. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 297 The King of Babilon..had eight hundreth Stalions, which were admitted to couer sixe thousand Mares. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 118 The Colt that for a Stallion is design'd, By sure Presages shows his generous Kind. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 352 March,..at which time the mares are given to the stallion. 1842 Longfellow Slave's Dream iv, At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel Smiting his stallion's flank. 1861 Times 11 July, The first and highest legitimate vocation of a thorough-bred stallion is as a sire. 1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin ii. 27 He would hear the whinnying stallions of the wind career. 1940 L. MacNeice Last Ditch 15 The stallions of the soul—Eager to take the fences That fence about my soul. |
b. transf. Applied to a male dog or sheep with reference to its use for breeding.
| 1802 Daniel Rur. Sports II. 490 Dash [a dog]..had the misfortune to break his leg, and was sent to Col. T. who..considered him in that state a great acquisition as a stallion to breed from. 1842 [see stallion-breeder in 5]. |
c. As the name of a plant (see
quot.).
| 1878 Britten & Holland Plant-n., Stallions (Yks. W. Riding), or Stallions and Mares. Yks. (Wensleydale). Arum maculatum, L. |
2. Applied to a person.
† a. A begetter.
Obs.| c 1305 Land Cokaygne 167 Þe monke þat wol be stalun gode..He schal hab wiþute danger .xii. wiues euche ȝere. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. i. vi. 85 When no choice is had, but still the eldest must marry, as so many stallions of the Race. |
b. A man of lascivious life; in 17th and 18th-c., a woman's hired paramour. Now only in former sense.
| 1553 tr. Gardiner's De Vera Obed. To Rdr. B j, [They] thinke it more mete for wanton wagtaile weston to be turned out for a stalaunt,..than to vse ani kinde of communication among worthi ladies. 1623 Massinger Dk. Milan iv. ii, He..that at euerie stage keeps liuerie Mistresses, The stallion of the State! 1676 Shadwell Virtuoso iv, What are you, her Stallion, and her Bravo too? 1680 R. Mansell Narr. Popish Plot 99 Her Mistress had got an ill Repute, by keeping Willoughby for her Stallion. 1714 T. Lucas Mem. Gamesters (ed. 2) 193 A Marchioness in Naples..kept him as her Stallion. 1755 Monitor I. No. 15. 129 It was a complaint in our wars with Holland, that our losses were owing to the stallions and bastards of lewd women, who had interest at court. 1796 Grose's Dict. Vulgar T. (ed. 3), Stallion, a man kept by an old lady for secret services. 1933 D. Parker After Such Pleasures 138 Go answer it, you damned—you damned stallion! 1978 L. Meynell Papersnake v. 70 Barton amused himself by keeping a tally of Lasting's women; ‘that insatiable stallion’ he called him. |
† 3. a. A courtesan.
Obs. [Perh. another word:
cf. F.
estalon (
Cotgr.) a decoy; also
stale n.3 4.]
| 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 24 Then folloed the worshipfull Bride{ddd}But a stale stallion..God wot, and an il smelling, waz she. 1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus ii. 102 b, Willing her..to abandon chastity for the time, making hirselfe a common stalant for all that would come. Ibid. 107. 1604 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 616 (2nd Qo.) That I..Must like a whore vnpacke my hart with words, And fall a cursing like a very drabbe; a stallyon, fie vppont, foh. [1603, 1st Qo. reads a scalion. Ff. read scullion.] 1635 Life Long Meg of Westminster iii. (1816) 6 Marry Master Vicar, quoth Meg, just fiue shillings and three pence. Fiue shillings and three pence, quoth he; why I tell thee foule Stallion, I owe but three shillings and a penny. a 1670 Hacket Cent. Serm. (1675) 600 Doth the Adulterer look for impunity that he walks to his stallion by twilight? |
b. Among
U.S. Blacks, a tall, good-looking girl or woman.
colloq.| 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 108 Stallion, a good-looking black woman. 1975 R. H. Rimmer Premar Experiments (1976) i. 148, I love you Samantha Brown. In black ghetto language, you're a lovely stallion. |
4. ? A stand for showing goods.
[Possibly a distinct word, connected with
stall n.1 or
OF. estaler to display. But
cf. horse n. 7.]
| 1752 Gentl. Mag. XXII. 348 Plate. The Porcelain Manufactory at Worcester. 10. (b). The eight windows in two large chambers, in which the ware is placed on stallions. |
5. attrib. and
Comb., chiefly appositive, as
stallion ass,
stallion horse,
stallion hound,
† stallion pen (
fig.),
stallion steed; objective, as
stallion-breeder; similative, as
stallion-like adv.;
† stallion teeth, the eye-teeth of a horse.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 558 It is most commodious and necessary to gett such a *Stalion Asse to the procreation of Mules. |
| 1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. (1862) II. 385 There are a great many tup or *stallion-breeders too ready to omit this essential ceremony of inspection. |
| 1889 T. T. Stoddart Angling Songs 272 A merry fish on a *stallion hair 'Tis a pleasant thing to lead On May-days. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 297 Therefore it behooueth that a *Stalion Horsse be not vnder three yeares old when he couereth a Mare. |
| 1826 J. Cook Fox-hunting 10 A word now on the subject of *Stallion-hounds. 1904 J. A. Thomson Eighty Years Remin. II. 134 A hound show took place at Haddington in July, 1876. In the class for..stallion hounds, Fife were first with ‘Woodman’. |
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. i. Vocation 1155 Those..*Stalion-like, after their beauties neigh'd. |
| 1737 M. Green Spleen 347 Nor, hir'd to praise with *stallion pen, Serve the ear-lechery of men. |
| 1597 Bp. Hall Sat. iv. i. 112 Some snout-fayre stripling..Whom staked vp like to some *stallion-steed They keepe with Egs and Oysters for the breed. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 285 It is a hard thing for a Horsse to haue a good mouth, except his *stallion teeth bee pulled out, for when he is chafed or heated, he cannot be helde backe by his rider. |