dint

Definition

Especially in by dint of: force, power.

Etymology

From Middle English dint, dent, dünt, from Old English dynt (“dint, blow, strike, stroke, bruise, stripe; the mark left by a blow; the sound or noise made by a blow, thud”), from Proto-Germanic *duntiz (“a blow”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰen- (“to strike, hit”). Cognate with Swedish dialectal dunt, Icelandic dyntr (“a dint”). Doublet of dent.

Example Sentences

• "O, now you weep; and, I perceive, you feel / The dint of pity"
• "It was by dint of passing strength / That he moved the massy stone at length."
• "[D]epe wͭ dynt the ſword enforced furſt / had ranſakt through his ribs ⁊ ſwete whyte breſt at once had burſt."