From Middle English stinten, from Old English styntan (“to make blunt”) and *stintan (attested in āstintan (“to make dull, stint, assuage”)), from Proto-West Germanic *stuntijan, from Proto-Germanic *stuntijaną and Proto-Germanic *stintaną (“to make short”), probably influenced in some senses by cognate Old Norse *stynta, stytta (“to make short, shorten”).
Meanings
A period of time spent doing or being something; a spell.
Lilian Greenwood has ranked boosting diversity and inclusivity among her crowning achievements from her two-year stint chairing the House of Commons Transport Select Committee. 2020 May 20, “Network News: A legacy of greater diversity in transport”, in Rail, page 13:
He had a stint in jail.
Limit; bound; restraint; extent.
God has wrote upon no created thing the utmost stint of his power. 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
Quantity or task assigned; proportion allotted.
Jack bovv'd and vvas oblig'd—confeſs'd 'tvvas ſtrange / That ſo retir'd he ſhould not vviſh a change, / But knevv no medium betvveen guzzling beer, / And his old stint—three thouſand pounds a year. 1782, William Cowper, “Retirement”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 288:
A part of the race between two consecutive pit stops.
That left Maldonado with a 6.2-second lead. Alonso closed in throughout their third stints, getting the gap down to 4.2secs before Maldonado stopped for the final time on lap 41. 2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport:
cs pracovní úkol (quantity or task assigned) · es lapso (a period of time spent doing or being something) · fr séjour (a period of time spent doing or being something) · fr passage (a period of time spent doing or being something) · ru бы́тность (a period of time spent doing or being something) · fi aika (a period of time spent doing or being something) · ga tasc (quantity or task assigned) · cs stáž (a period of time spent doing or being something) · cs penzum (quantity or task assigned) · nl periode (a period of time spent doing or being something) · nb stund (a period of time spent doing or being something) · pl epizod (a period of time spent doing or being something) · cs působení (a period of time spent doing or being something) · es tiempo (a period of time spent doing or being something) · cs příděl (quantity or task assigned) · es turno (quantity or task assigned) · it gavetta (a period of time spent doing or being something) · fi kausi (a period of time spent doing or being something) · cs (pracovní) pobyt (a period of time spent doing or being something) · fi jakso (a period of time spent doing or being something)
From Middle English stinten, from Old English styntan (“to make blunt”) and *stintan (attested in āstintan (“to make dull, stint, assuage”)), from Proto-West Germanic *stuntijan, from Proto-Germanic *stuntijaną and Proto-Germanic *stintaną (“to make short”), probably influenced in some senses by cognate Old Norse *stynta, stytta (“to make short, shorten”).
Meanings
(archaic, intransitive) To stop (an action); cease, desist.
O do thy cruell wrath and spightfull wrong / At length allay, and stint thy stormy strife […] 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
The damsel stinted in her song. 1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC:
And stint thou too, I pray thee. c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
We mon haue payne that neuer shall stynt 15th c., “[The Creation]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: […] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC, page 6, line 161:
(intransitive, obsolete) To stop speaking or talking (of a subject).
(intransitive) To be sparing or mean.
The next party you throw, don't stint on the beer.
(transitive) To restrain within certain limits; to bound; to restrict to a scant allowance.
She stints them in their meals. 1729, William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life:
Schepisi makes it clear that the outlandish rules, the strict self-discipline, the body hatred, and erotophobia is destructive; it is doing no one any good. But since he is also presenting a (somewhat) loving evocation of his own past, this measure gets soft peddled. Worse, it stints the film's analysis, and by not being totally honest, causes and plays upon some dangerous misunderstanding. 1982 February 13, Michael Bronski, “Boys from Catholic School”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 29, page 12:
I shall not in the least go about to extenuate the Latitude of it: or to stint it only to the Produćtion of Weeds, of Thorns, Thisiles, and other the less useful Kinds of Plants 1695, John Woodward, An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies:
To assign a certain task to (a person), upon the performance of which he/she is excused from further labour for that day or period; to stent.
(of mares) To impregnate successfully; to get with foal.
The majority of maiden mares will become stinted while at work. 1861, John Henry Walsh, The Horse, in the Stable and the Field:
mi hākere (to be sparing or mean) · es callarse (to stop speaking or talking) · mi kaihākere (to be sparing or mean) · bg скъпя се (to be sparing or mean) · fi säästää (to be sparing or mean) · ru скупи́ться (to be sparing or mean) · pl skąpić (to be sparing or mean) · fi nuukailla (to be sparing or mean) · de geizen (to be sparing or mean) · bg свиди ми се (to be sparing or mean) · es cesar (to stop, cease, desist) · cs být skoupý (to be sparing or mean) · fi lopettaa (to stop, cease, desist) · fi pihtailla (to be sparing or mean) · es escatimar (to be sparing or mean) · fi lopettaa (to stop speaking or talking) · cs omezovat (to restrain) · fi pihistellä (to be sparing or mean) · cs skrblit (to be sparing or mean) · fi vaieta (to stop speaking or talking)
ro fugaci (wading bird of the genus Calidris) · bg малък брегобегач (wading bird of the genus Calidris) · de Strandläufer (wading bird of the genus Calidris) · hu partfutó (wading bird of the genus Calidris) · ru песочник (wading bird of the genus Calidris) · es correlimos (wading bird of the genus Calidris) · fi sirri (wading bird of the genus Calidris)