Staining

How to spell staining

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce staining

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does staining mean?

1. nounThe act or result of marking or discolouring a surface, especially when unwanted.
2. nounThe process of applying coloured finish to wood to enhance or change its appearance.

Staining in a sentence

• The carpet showed heavy staining near the front door.

• The staining of the deck took the whole weekend.

• Red wine is a common cause of staining on white shirts.

• He hired a professional for the staining of the oak floorboards.

Where does staining come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the present participle and verbal noun of 'stain', a verb that reached Middle English as 'steynen' in the 1300s. It was a shortened borrowing from the Old French 'desteindre', meaning 'to take the colour out of' or 'to dye', which itself came from the Latin 'dis-', a prefix indicating reversal or removal, joined to 'tingere', meaning 'to wet, soak, or dye'. That same Latin 'tingere' is the ancestor of the modern words 'tinge' and 'tint', which is a useful reminder that the core idea has always been about colour soaking into a surface. Over time the English sense broadened from deliberate dyeing to the accidental discolouration we usually mean today, as well as the woodworking practice of applying coloured finish. The spelling is straightforward once you remember it is simply 'stain' plus '-ing', with no doubled letter because the base word ends in two vowels followed by a single consonant.

How the word is built

• stain (to discolour or dye)
• -ing (gerund/present participle suffix)