Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “unstink” come from?

unstink (English) comes from English stink, from Middle English stynken, from Old English stincan, from Proto-West Germanic *stinkwan, from Proto-Germanic stinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European stengʷ- — to push.

unstink (English): to remove the stench of something

Definitions

  1. to remove the stench of something

Ancestry of “unstink”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishstinkTo have a strong bad smell; To be greatly...
2Middle EnglishstynkenTo emit a smell or stench; to stink; To be...
3Old Englishstincanto smell; to stink
4Proto-West Germanic*stinkwan—
5Proto-Germanicstinkwanąto hit; thrust; clash; to emit a smell; stink
6Proto-Indo-Europeanstengʷ-to push
Every word from Proto-Indo-European stengʷ- →