▪ I. stain, n.
(steɪn)
Also 6–7 staine, stayne, 7 steine, steigne.
[f. stain v.]
† 1. The action of staining; pollution, disgrace.
| 1563 Googe Cupido Eglogs etc. (Arb.) 114 Vnhappy wretche that wolde Haue forced the Ladye of this forte with stayne of Royaltie To haue consented to his wyll in fylthye Lecherye. 1587 Greene Euphues Wks. (Grosart) VI. 174 The staine of the one did ad a disgrace to the glorie of the other. 1607 Shakes. Timon v. i. 176 Giuing our holy Virgins to the staine Of contumelious, beastly..warre. |
2. a. A discoloration produced by absorption of or contact with foreign matter; usually, one that penetrates below the surface and is not easily removable.
| 1583 L. M[ascall] Prof. Bk. 12 A good way to helpe all staynes in thinne silkes and woollen clothe. 1592 Arden of Feversham ii. ii. 113 Seest thou this goare that cleaueth to my face? From hence nere will I wash this bloody staine, Til Ardens hart be panting in my hand. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 75 Lo here vpon thy cheeke the staine doth sit, Of an old teare that is not washt off yet. c 1610 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster v. i. [iii], May their false lights..discover presses, holes, stains, and oldness in their Stuffs. 1687 A. Lovell Thevenot's Trav. i. 53 If by mischance Wine should be shed upon their cloaths, the greatest Drunkard that is, endeavours to get out the stain. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne iii. 57 He should produce the portrait..with all the stains and mouldiness of the last century. 1849 Cupples Green Hand xx. (1856) 193 Rusty stains at her hawse-holes. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports i. i. i. §4. 4/2 The coops ought to be moved daily, as the stain of the birds is injurious to them. 1877 ‘Rita’ Vivienne ii. iii, I have not even waited to remove the stains and dust of my long journey before coming to see you. |
b. A mark or discoloration on the skin; a blotch or sore.
| 1595 Shakes. John iii. i. 45 If thou..wert grim Vgly..Full of vnpleasing blots, and sightlesse staines,..Patch'd with foule Moles..I would not care. 1611 ― Cymb. ii. iv. 139 You do remember This staine [a mole] vpon her? 1819 Shelley Cenci iv. i. 130 Let her food be Poison, until she be encrusted round With leprous stains! 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 144 This [jaundice] had lessened a good deal, but there was still a light yellow stain of the skin. 1898 J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. IX. 334, I make him undress, and find him covered on limbs and trunk with blotches and papules and stains. |
c. Agric. A spot (in an ear of corn) produced by mildew or damp.
| 1731 in 6th Rep. Dep. Kpr. Publ. Rec. App. ii. 119 A new Machine for cleaning Wheat..contrived to take away the stains, smut bags, and other trumpery. |
d. transf. A spot or patch of colour different from the ground. Common in
Nat. Hist. in fine stain: said of garden flowers with the characteristic markings finely shown.
| 1704 Pope Windsor For. 145 Swift trouts, diversified with crimson stains. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 412 ¶5 Those different Stains of Light that shew themselves in Clouds of a different Situation. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 241 Not a flow'r But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain, Of his unrivall'd pencil. 1842 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) III. 130 In the bed were several Claudianas in very fine stain. 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. vi. x. §25 V. 103 The gathering orange stain upon the edge of yonder western peak. 1890 R. Bridges Shorter Poems v. Larks, They In sunlight swim; above the furthest stain Of cloud attain. |
† e. fig. A slight trace or tinge
of.
Obs.| 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. i. 123 You haue some staine of souldier in you. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 27. |
f. Hunting.
= foil n.4 (
Cf. stain v. 4 d.)
| 1832 Q. Rev. XLVII. 238 A short check from the stain of sheep makes everything comfortable; and the Squire having hit off his fox like a workman, thirteen men [etc.]. |
3. fig. (Often in phrases like
to wash, purge a stain.)
a. A morally defiling effect on the character or conscience; a grave blemish on a person's reputation; a mark of infamy or disgrace, a stigma.
| 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. v. 42 Thy Fathers charge shal cleare thee from y{supt} staine. 1593 ― Lucr. 1701 How may this forced staine be wip'd from me? 1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence, Phormio v. ii, Studying to avoid the staine of niggardlines. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit (1637) 525 A right ancient race of the Digbyes, which..hath now caught a deepe steine by Sir Everard Digby drawne into that cursed crew. c 1610 Women Saints 55 Washing away the staynes of secular pleasures with flouds of teares. 1632 Milton Penseroso 26 His daughter she (in Saturns raign, Such mixture was not held a stain). 1640 Nabbes Unfort. Mother iv. G 1, A truth cleere as the innocence Of babes: after the holy ceremony Hath purg'd th' originall staine. 1781 Cowper Expost. 74 Till penitence had purg'd the public stain. 1800 M. Edgeworth Moral T., Pruss. Vase (1816) I. 224 No stain affixes to his honour from the accusation. 1838 James Robber v, He would never speak so boldly and so tenderly of his mother, if there were any stain upon her name. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 143 The probable stain on their birth could hardly be thrown in their teeth in the days of William the bastard. 1882 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 484 But the stain of blood could not be washed out. |
b. A person or thing that causes disgrace. Now
rare or
Obs.| 1589 Nashe Anat. Absurd. Wks. (Grosart) I. 35 To send them to some other mechanicall Arte, that they might not thus be the staine of Arte. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. i. 45 Staine to thy countrymen, thou hear'st thy doom. 1598 Brandon Octavia ii. C 5, Stain of thy sexe, thy poisoned speech surcease. 1602 W. Fulbecke Pandectes vi. 31 b, Antiphon that vicious varlet, and steigne of Athens. 1649 Davenant Love & Hon. iii. ii. 85 Hence from my sight, Thou birth ill gotten, and my marriage stain. 1725 Pope Odyss. xviii. 4 A surly vagrant.., The stain of manhood. |
† c. One who eclipses or casts into the shade.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia i. xiv. (1912) 95 Hereby I will..lead her that is the prayse, and yet the staine of all womankinde. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 9 Staine to all Nimphs, more louely then a man. 1605 Earl Stirling Alex. Trag. iii. ii, My sonne that was the glorie of his time, Staine of times past, and light of times to come. |
† 4. Her. (See
quot.; and see
stainand a.).
Obs.| 1586 J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie i. 163 Notwithstanding I do with the french men, condemne the two last colours: that is to say, Tawney and sanguine, as no colours. But we will vouchsafe, to haue them called staines. |
5. Glass-painting. (See
quot. 1832.)
| 1832 G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. xiv. 298 There are only three colours..which can be floated on, and which are called stains to distinguish them from others which must be laid on by the strokes of a brush. These stains are orange, red, and lemon-yellow. Ibid., Orange stain... In floating this stain upon the glass, a large camel-hair pencil..must be used. 1838 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 156/1 The stains are then put in, with the lights and shadows in enamel, and again passed through the fire. |
6. A dye or colouring matter used in staining.
a. A liquid preparation used to colour wood, etc., differing from paint in being thinner, and in being absorbed into the pores of the material instead of forming a coating. (See also
quot. 1880.)
| 1758 [Dossie] Handmaid Arts 435 A bright red stain for wood. 1875 E. A. Davidson House-painting, etc. 364 The stain is to be applied with a sponge or large brush. 1880 Cooley's Cycl. Pract. Receipts (ed. 6) II. 1552 Stains, Confectioner's. Ibid. These stains are also used for cakes and pastry. 1895 E. Rowe Chip Carving 73 Should a very large quantity of the stain be required it would be cheaper to purchase the colours in powders. Ibid. 74 French polish must be used for oil-stains, but for water-stains..wax and turpentine are simpler. |
b. A dye or pigment used to render minute and transparent structures visible, or to differentiate tissue elements by colouring, for microscopic observations; or to produce specific microchemical reactions.
| 1880 Gibbes Histol. 23 Some tissues take in the stain very rapidly, others slowly. 1881 W. B. Carpenter Microscope §202 (ed. 6) 248 A good blue stain..is also given by the substance termed Indigo-Carmine. 1900–13 Dorland Med. Dict. (ed. 7) 893/2 Anilin blue-black, an anilin dye used as a stain for the study of the central nervous system. |
7. attrib. and
Comb. as in
stain reaction,
stain-spot;
stain-bemoaned adj.;
† stain-cloth = stained cloth;
stain painting, a style of painting in which diluted acrylic paints are applied to unsized canvas; a painting executed in this style; hence
stain painter, an exponent of this style;
stain-resistance, resistance to staining; hence
stain-resistant a.| a 1711 Ken Hymnarium Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 79 Before the Judge enthron'd, Plead my Guilt, self-condemn'd, and *stain-bemoan'd. |
| 1547 in Archæol. Cant. (1874) IX. 226 Item rec. of James Lake for a *stayne clothe that he bought, xvjd. Item rec. of John Sharpe for iij stayne clothes that he bought, xvjd. 1553–4 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 98 Mr. Shorte ffor a stayne cloth iiij{supd}. 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 428/2 The effect of it [mosaic] may be obtained, and the beauty of its patterns produced, in stain-cloth flooring. |
| 1965 New Statesman 30 Apr. 693/2 Some of the hard-edge and *stain painters are making matters worse by panicking themselves into the optical movement. |
| 1965 *Stain painting [see hard-edge s.v. hard a. (n.) 22]. 1974 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 23 Oct. 14/8 Her big canvases..are stain paintings (staining is a technique using acrylics mixed with water, on unsized canvas). |
| 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 413 *Stain reactions of the blood in diabetes. |
| 1959 Times 12 Jan. 11/5 For use on wool, cotton, or synthetic fibres to improve oil, grease, and water *stain-resistance. |
| 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder Suppl. 12 Jan. 3/3 Casual coat by Salbry is in waterproof, *stain-resistant Norzon and has a fleecy wool lining. |
| a 1670 Hacket Life Abp. Williams (1693) i. 159 But rip up all his Actions..shew any *Stain-Spot in his Fidelity. |
▪ II. stain, v. (
steɪn)
Forms: 4–6
steyne, 5–6
steyn,
stene, 6
steane, 6–7
stane, 7
stein; 5
stenyyn, 6
Sc. stenȝie,
stainyie,
steinȝie,
steingyie,
staingȝe,
stinȝie; 5–6
stayne, 6
staine, 6–
stain.
[aphetic a. OF. desteign-, desteindre (mod.F. déteindre), f. des- dis- + teindre to dye: see distain v., which appears in our quots. at the same time as the aphetic form. The vb. in Fr. and in the other Rom. langs. has only its etymological sense ‘to remove the dye from’, intr. ‘to lose colour, fade, be washed out’. Some of the Eng. senses, both of stain and distain, are difficult to account for; it is possible that in AF. the prefix des- in desteindre may sometimes have been taken in the sense ‘diversely, differently’; it is also possible that the verb of Fr. origin may have coalesced with an adoption of ON. steina to paint, f. stein-n paint, prob. identical with steinn stone.] † 1. trans. To deprive of colour.
Obs.| [1390 Gower Conf. I. 65 Whan his visage is so desteigned.] c 1477 Caxton Jason 42 b, I haue a seknes and maladye right secrete which shal first slee me er my face may be stayned or discouloured. 1530 Palsgr. 734/1, I stayne a thynge, I marre the colour, or glosse of it, je destayns. |
| 1589 Lodge Scillaes Metam. E 2 b, Whereas vermillion hue Is stained in sight. |
† b. Of the sun, etc.: To deprive (feebler luminaries) of their lustre. Also
fig. of a person or thing: To throw into the shade by superior beauty or excellence; to eclipse.
Obs. (Very common in the 16th c.)
| 1557 Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 163 For here at hande approcheth one Whose face will staine you all. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1598) 344 O voice that doth the Thrush in shrilnesse staine. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxii. viii, The sunne..all lights shall stayne. 1608 Topsell Serpents 94 In largenesse of body and greatnes of his hart..he staineth all the rest. 1610 Histrio-mastix iii. 137 This those excells as farre As glorious Tytan staines a silly Starre. 1613 Heywood Braz. Age ii. ii, How hath thy valour with thy fortune ioyn'd, To make thee staine the generall fortitude Of all the Princes we deriue from Greece. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. ix. 282 He stains all other mens lives with the clearnesse of his own. a 1649 Crashaw Carmen Deo Nostro Wks. (1904) 254 Thy Son Whose blush the moon beauteously marres And staines the timerous light of stares. |
† c. To obscure the lustre of.
lit. and
fig. Obs.| 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 81 Sweete Natures pompe, if my deficient phraze Hath staind thy glories by too little skill, Yeeld pardon. 1594 J. Dickenson Arisbas (1878) 41 A small cloude in a cleare day may somewhat stayne, not wholy stop the Sunnes light. 1596 Dalrymple Leslie's Hist. Scot. II. 45 O Detestable personnis, quha sa bricht a lycht blew out, stinȝeit sa honorable an ornament! 1634 Peacham Compl. Gentl. i. (1906) 10 Thirdly, whether Poverty impeacheth or staineth Nobility. 1657 Austen Fruit Trees ii. To Rdr., God..is pleased to staine the pride of men. |
† 2. intr. To lose colour or lustre.
Obs.| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 15 Þe redenesse þerof is wonder fyn and stable, and steyneþ neuere wiþ colde ne with hete. a 1568 Sat. Poems Reform. xlviii. 15 My clayth will nocht stenȝie, Suppois ȝe weit it nycht and day. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 82, I finde it nowe for a setled truth..that the purple dye will neuer staine, that the pure Cyuet will neuer loose his sauour [etc.]. a 1609 Shakes. Sonn. xxxiii, Suns of the world may staine when heauens sun staineth. 1614 T. Gentleman England's Way 42 Wet and cold can not make them shrinke nor staine, that the North-seas..haue dyed in graine, for such purposes. |
3. Of something dyed or coloured: To impart its colour to (something in contact). Also in wider use (
e.g. said of a chemical reagent), to alter the colour of (something to which it is applied).
[
Cf. F.
déteindre sur quelque chose.]
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 473/2 Steynyn, or stenyyn, as clothe þat lesythe hys coloure, fuco, proprie in tertia persona tantum. 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 22 Lacha, Lacca or Lacta, which steyneth silke and cloth in high redde or crimison coloure. 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. ii. iv. H j b, To rubbe thynges with thy purple cloth, I wis it woulde them steane. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 37 Celedonie is an Herbe..whose flower..dyeth and stayneth the gatherers hande. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 382 His lippes are alwayes staynd with the Juice of Bacchus his berries. 1583 L. M[ascall] Prof Bk. 14 Against clothes staynde with wine or vineger. 1750 Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 145 It stains the encircling air with its greenness. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 790 Sap of the musa paradisica..stains linen. 1844 G. Bird Urin. Deposits (1857) 188 Several calculi..with layers of urate of ammonia deeply stained with purpurine. 1901 Trowbridge Lett. her Mother to Eliz. ii. 5 The rouge on her neck had stained her collar. |
| absol. 1805 Withering tr. Werner's Ext. Char. Fossils 191 Solid fossils that stain are not very common. 1887 ‘Mark Rutherford’ Revol. Tanner's Lane ii. (ed. 8) 31 Tea doesn't stain; I hope it has not gone on your coat. |
b. with complement denoting colour.
| 1750 Apol. Life B. M. Carew xi. (ed. 2) 132 They paint themselves with a Pecone-Root, which stains them of a red⁓dish Colour. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. xii (1842) 280 Paper stained yellow by rhubarb. 1844 G. Bird Urin. Deposits (1857) 443 Urates, stained pink with purpurine. 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man xi. 203 There were many human bones, in old Indian graves in the same district, stained of as black a dye. 1900–13 Dorland Med. Dict. (ed. 7) s.v. Stains, Ehrlich's triacid stain..stains erythrocytes orange. 1912 W. G. Smith in Man XII. 197 It [the flint] is white in colour, but in parts very slightly stained ferruginous from adjacent red clay. |
c. transf. Of the blood: To suffuse with colour. Also in
pass., to be (naturally) spotted or streaked with colour.
| 1557 Surrey in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 6, I know how that the blood forsakes the face for dred: And how by shame it staines again the chekes with flaming red. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 76 He is bespotted and stayned dyuersely with diuers colours in a maner like ye Libard. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. (1778) II. 81 (Passport), That..which stains thy face with crimson, to copy in even thy study. 1831 James Phil. Augustus I. iv, His blue eyes would have been fine..had they not been..stained, as it were on the very iris, by some hazel spots in the midst of the blue. |
d. intr. To absorb colouring matter, take a stain.
| 1877 Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. 8 The protoplasm stains brown; the rest of the cell remains unstained. 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 691 They were of a very faintly granular appearance, staining feebly with log-wood. 1880 Gibbes Histol. 23 When the sections appear to have stained thoroughly remove them. |
4. trans. To damage or blemish the appearance of (something) by colouring a part of its surface; to discolour by spots or streaks of blood, dirt, or other foreign matter not easily removed. In poetic use occasionally: To colour, defile (a river) with blood.
| 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxxvii. 31 Thei token the coote of hym, and in the blode of a kyde that thei hadden slayn steyneden [Vulg. tinxerunt]. c 1450 Merlin xxvii. 554 He and his horse were steyned with blode as he hadde fallen in a blody river. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. i. 55 The blak droppis of bluide Distillit thairfra, that all the erd quhar it stuide Was spottit of the filth, and stenyt, alaik. 1535 Coverdale Isa. lxiii. 3 And their bloude sprange vpon my cloothes, & so haue I stayned all my rayment [So later versions]. Ibid. lxiv. 6 All oure rightuousnesses are as the clothes stayned with the floures of a woman. 1538 Elyot Dict., Squaleo, to be..soiled or stainid with som vnclene thing. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iii. iii. 22 Those same antique Peres..Which Greeke and Asian riuers stained with their blood. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 742 Scarcely the Knife was redden'd with his Gore, Or the black Poison stain'd the sandy Floor. 1718 Rowe tr. Lucan i. 550 See what Reward the grateful Senate yield, For the lost Blood which stains yon Northern Field. 1774 J. Bryant Mythol. II. 214 The birds were found to return with their feet stained with soil. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest viii, Upon a closer view it was spotted and stained with rust. 1839 Dickens Nich. Nick. viii, The walls were stained and discoloured. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 402 That bent and weary Jew..so stained with the dust of travel. |
† b. To spoil (hay, grain) with damp.
Obs.| 1787 Winter Syst. Husb. 229 My barley, which was stained by the inclemency of the season in 1785, I had ground. c 1830 Glouc. Farm Rep. 15 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, The hay that has got stained. |
† c. To spoil by intermixture.
Obs.| 1575 Gascoigne Glasse Govt. ii. Chor., Wks. 1910 II. 43 Such wicked means, malitious men can make The frutfull seede, with worthles weedes to stayne. |
d. Hunting.
= foil v.
1 2.
| 1798 Sporting Mag. XI. 87 The ground so stained by running the foil that the scent lay with no certainty. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 583/1 Stained, injured as regards scent by the previous passage of hounds, horses, or of cattle, &c. |
5. fig. a. To defile or corrupt morally; to taint with guilt or vice.
| 1446 Lydg. Nightingale P. i. 287 Moch peple viciously Were in this age..thorgh theire vice destreied sore & steyned. 1570 Googe Pop. Kingd. i. 8 b, Lest that he shoulde be periurde calde, and staynde with heresie. 1657 Attest. Innocency Zach. Crofton 14 A Master of a family this twelve year, or thereabouts, never stained with the least disorder or incivility. 1777 W. Cameron in Sc. Paraphr. xvii. vii, Though your guilty souls are stain'd with sins of crimson dye. 1847 J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. x. 104 The British kings were stained with every vice. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. India II. 649 Intrigues and combinations, which were stained with treachery and assassinations. |
† b. To impair the beauty or excellence of.
Obs.| 1575–85 Abp. Sandys Serm. xiii. 219 Ought not we to doe the best we can to cast out all that steineth and marreth the perfect beautie of his Church? 1584 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 702 To blott and stainyie the gude word of God. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. ii. xv, Which my rude pencil will in limming stain. |
c. To be or inflict a permanent reproach to or stigma upon; to blemish, soil (a person's reputation, honour, conscience, etc.);
† to charge
with something disgraceful. Also
intr. of the conscience:
† To suffer stain.
| 1513 More Rich. III (1883) 76 With which infami he wold not haue his honoure stayned for anye crowne. 1540–1 Elyot Image Gov. 32 If a knight..had used any unseemly thyng, appairing or steyninge the estimacion of the degree, whiche he represented. 1577 Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 102 Thei would not haue y⊇ Popedome staynde, with any more Pope Iones. a 1605 Montgomerie Misc. Poems ii. 5 Conscience stenȝies if he steill. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 545 Shee that by her light behaviour had not a little steined her good name. 1678 Dryden All for L. iii. i. 44, I have..stain'd the glory of my Royal House. 1682 Fountainhall Hist. Observes (Bannatyne Club) 80 It was also at this tyme..designed to stain him with briberie. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 17 Oct. 1644, This beautiful Citty [Genoa] is more stayn'd with such horrid acts of revenge..than any one place in Europ. a 1763 W. King Polit. & Lit. Anecd. (1819) 166 The bloody executions which he [Augustus] ordered..must stain his memory as long as his name shall be remembered. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian iii, One who did not scruple to stain the name of the innocent. 1869 Farrar Fam. Speech i. 28 One of the most infamous and arbitrary acts which stain the name of Napoleon. 1879 Froude Cæsar vii. 63 He won for himself a reputation which his later cruelties might stain, but could not efface. |
d. Often used with double metaphor,
esp. with reference to ‘blood’
= bloodguiltiness.
| 1577–87 Harrison England ii. xxi. (1877) I. 335, I held it unworthie that anie good man should staine his paper with such frivolous matters. a 1615 Mure Wks. I. 23 O spair In guiltles blood thy hands to stayne! 1700 Prior Carmen Sec. iii, Holding his Fasces stain'd with Filial Blood. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xxxiii, ‘Heaven forbid,’ he said, ‘that the Church should stain her hands with the blood of the worst of sinners.’ 1868 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 365 After Wolsey's fall, every week of Henry's reign was stained with the blood of his subjects. |
† e. to stain (a person's) blood: (
a) to prove (him) of base descent; (
b) to cause ‘corruption of blood’ (see
corruption 2 b).
Obs.| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 530 If he sayde contrarie, he..slaundered his mother, shamed himselfe, and steyned his blood. 1628 [see corrupt v. 1 b]. 1679 [see attaint v. 6]. 1766 Blackstone Comm. ii. xv. 252 The doctrine of escheat upon attainder,..is this: that the blood of the tenant, by the commission of any felony..is corrupted and stained. |
† f. To vilify in words, abuse.
Obs.| c 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 385 Thorow here fayre speche oure lawys they steyn. 1642 H. More Song of Soul ii. i. ii. 41 The busie soul thus doth her reason strain To write or speak what envious tongue may never stain. 1691 d'Emiliane's Frauds Rom. Monks 63 The Officer very dexterously and freely stain'd the Priest with his Tongue. |
† g. To ‘obfuscate’, make tipsy.
Obs.| 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair i. iii, Why? we were all a little stain'd last night, sprinckled with a cup or two. |
† 6. To ornament with coloured designs or patterns.
Obs.| 1426–7 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 64 Payd for betyng & steynynge of þe same penouns, vj s. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 473/2 Steynyn, as steynyowrys, polo. 1466 in Archæologia L. 42 Item j Rydyl steyned w{supt} a chalix and the figur of the sacrament on hyt and ij angell. 1482 Cely Papers (Camden) 118 The cortens be stayned bot on the ton syde. 1488 in Archæologia XLV. 117 Item, ij Clothes for the sepulchre, oon with the Passion and the other steyned full of whyte leves. 1506 in G. Oliver Lives Bps. Exeter, etc. (1861) 359, 1 front de lineo. stayned cum scriptura ‘Honor Deo’. 1 front cum tuello annexo, stayned cum Crucifixo, Maria et Johanne, Petro et Paulo. 1555 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Mary (1914) 181, v longe garmentes the vpper Bodyes vpper baces of white cloth of syluer stayned with Collours. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 133 The brests of divers [mummies] being stained with Hieroglyphicall characters. |
| absol. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 225, I wol me noght therof excuse, That I with such colour ne steyne. |
† b. To depict in colour.
Obs.| 1519 Registr. Aberdon. (Maitland Club) II. 174 Ane grite arres bed..with þe kingis armes and bischoipe Willeam Elphinstone's stenȝeit be [blank]. a 1642 Sir F. Kynaston Leoline & Syd. 1820 A carpet..On which the hyacinth and narcissus blue So naturally were stain'd, as if they grew. |
| fig. 1569 G. B. Shippe Safegarde D vij b, A follie therefore were it here for me, To touch that he with pencell once did staine. |
7. To colour (
esp. textile fabrics, paper, wood, stone) by the application of pigment that more or less penetrates the substance instead of forming a coating on the surface, or by means of chemical reagents. In microscopical and histological research: To colour (tissues, etc.) with some pigment so as to render the structure clearly visible.
| 1655 Terry Voy. India iii. 115 That pretty art of staining, or printing and fixing those variety of Colours in that white Cloth, the People of Asia have engrossed to themselves. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 44 There are also made Calicoes, stained of divers colours. 1675 Covel in Early Voy. Levant (Hakl. Soc.) 236 Her nails were stein'd (as the custome is here) with aleanna of a golden red. 1712 Lond. Gaz. No. 5018/4 Any Person who..shall Print, Paint, or Stain, any Paper to serve for Hangings. 1712 Ibid. No. 5025/2 Any Person who shall Print, Paint, Stain or Dye any Callicoes, Silks or Stuffs. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 338 An artificial marble formed by staining white marble with corrosive tincture. 1799 Med. Jrnl. I. 204 Experiments, made by Professor Beckmann, on staining wood. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 398 Magistery of bismuth is sometimes mixed with pomatum for the purpose of staining the hair of a dark colour. 1873 J. Matthews T. Davis's Prepar. Microsc. Obj. (ed. 2) 8 The tissue may be subsequently stained with iodine. 1881 Young Ev. Man own Mechanic §1638. 731 Let us see what wallpaper is and how it is painted or technically speaking ‘stained’. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn vii, There were rolls of vellum or papyrus, stained saffron-colour at the back. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 455 Finished in an altogether superior style..and the whole stained and varnished in imitation mahogany, 21/-. |
b. To colour (glass) with transparent colours. Also
rarely to depict in stained glass.
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VII. 779/1 The first thing to be done, in order to paint or stain glass..is to design..the whole subject on paper. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 757 Of the Colours used in staining Glass. 1832 G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. xiv. 289 The invention of the art of painting on and staining glass..is..known to have existed for many centuries. 1893 K. L. Bates Engl. Relig. Drama 26 Some Christian hero, whose martyrdom was stained in window, carved in canopy. |
▪ III. stain obs. form of
stone.