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Topic: Staunch

We heard from a listener seeking to check her suspicions that we had goofed in our use of the verb staunch when talking about using hankies to staunch one's tears. Our staunch was spelled staunch. Our correspondent told us she'd always believed stanch is the usual spelling for a verb, while staunch is the spelling associated with the adjectival use.

She's not the first person to think that way. Grammarian Henry Fowler made the same observation more than eight decades ago. Still, both spellings (for both functions) have been in reputable use for centuries, and commentators have never insisted that one or the other is the only correct one.

Both spellings derive from the Old French estancher, meaning "to stop the flow of"; "stanch." The verb stanch means "to check or stop the flowing of"; or "to stop the flow of blood from a wound." The adjective staunch—which first appeared in print in the 15th century, a century after the verb form appeared in the 14th century—is used to describe being "steadfast in loyalty or principle"; "faithful"; "watertight"; or "sound."

So should our spelling have reflected the usual spelling? Perhaps, although, as we said earlier, both spellings have long been used interchangeably and are considered variants. And since, no matter how you spell it, the term is pronounced /staunch/ we'll remain steadfast in our desire to not worry overly much.

Questions or comments? Write us at wftw@aol.com Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and Web sites including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.

certainly I didn't know you could spell it the shorter way at all...