Stāin1, v. t.
v. t. [imp. & p. p. STAINED; p. pr. & vb. n. STAINING.] [Abbreviated from distain, q. v.]
Sense 1. To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; to stain clothes with vegetable juice; to stain paper; armor stained with blood.
Sense 2. To color, as wood, glass, or the like, by processes affecting, chemically or otherwise, the material itself; to tinge with a color or colors combining with, or penetrating, the substance; to color; to dye; as, to stain wood with acids, colored washes, paint rubbed in, &c.; to stain glass by the effusion upon, or the interfusion within, it of metallic oxides.
Sense 3. To tinge with a different color; to dye; as, to stain cloth.
Sense 4. To impress with figures, in colors different from the ground; as, to stain paper for hangings.
Sense 5. To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to blot; to soil; to tarnish.
Of honor void, of innocence, of faith, of purity, Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained. Milton.
Sense 6. To cause to seem inferior by comparison.
She stains the ripest virgins of her age. Beau. & Fl.
Stained glass, glass colored or stained by certain metallic pigments fused into its substance;—often used for making durable pictures in windows. Ure.
Synonyms—To paint; dye; blot; soil; sully; discolor; disgrace; taint.—PAINT, STAIN, DYE. These denote three different processes; the first mechanical, the other two chiefly chemical. To paint a thing is to spread a coat of coloring matter over it; to stain or dye a thing is to impart color to its substance. To stain is said chiefly of solids, as wood, glass, paper; to dye, of fibrous substances, textile fabrics, &c.; the one, commonly, a simple process, as applying a wash; the other more complex, as fixing colors by mordants.