Stancher

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A device or substance employed to halt or control the flow of liquid
2. An agent used to prevent the loss of blood during medical treatments
3. An implement designed to stop leakage in various contexts

Etymology: The word "stancher" is a simple formation: it takes the verb "stanch" (meaning to stop the flow of something, especially blood) and adds the suffix "-er", which in this case turns the verb into a noun for the thing that performs the action. A stancher, then, is whatever substance stops bleeding, much as a "cooler" is something that cools. The verb "stanch" is the older and more important word here. It came into English from Old French, where forms like "estanchier" meant to stop or check a flow, and that French word traces back to Latin roots connected with stopping and drying up. The sense of halting a flow of liquid, especially blood, is what has stayed with the word from its earliest uses. The spelling "staunch" is a variant of the same verb, which is why the two forms sit side by side in dictionaries.

Synonyms: stopper, sealer