Stynkande

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Giving off a strong and offensive smell, the kind that makes people wrinkle their noses
2. Having a repellent, pungent odor that is unpleasant to anyone nearby
3. Releasing a rank, disagreeable scent that lingers in the air

Etymology: "Stynkande" is the Middle English form of the present participle of "stinken," meaning "to emit a bad smell." Its ancestry goes back to Old English "stincan," which is related to the older Germanic root for a sharp or pungent smell, and it is the ancestor of modern "stinking." The unusual feature here is the ending: Middle English participles often ended in "-ande" or "-ende," which later wore down to "-ing," so this spelling records a stage of the language that has since vanished from standard English. The "-ande" ending traces back to the Old English present participle suffix "-ende," used to form adjectives from verbs, so "stynkande" literally means "stinking" in the sense of "being in the act of stinking." Like the modern "stinking," it could be used as a plain adjective to describe something that smells foul, and it could also serve as an intensifier, as in "stynkande drunkard."