stain

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Stained p. pr. & vb. n. Staining. ] [ Abbrev. fr. distain. ] 1. To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To color, as wood, glass, paper, cloth, 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 dye; as, to stain wood with acids, colored washes, paint rubbed in, etc.; to stain glass. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to blot; to soil; to tarnish. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of honor void,
Of innocence, of faith, of purity,
Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison. [ 1913 Webster ]

She stains the ripest virgins of her age. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

That did all other beasts in beauty stain. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stained glass, glass colored or stained by certain metallic pigments fused into its substance, -- often used for making ornamental windows. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- 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, etc.; the one, commonly, a simple process, as applying a wash; the other more complex, as fixing colors by mordants. [ 1913 Webster ]