stiffen

English

Etymology

From Middle English stifnen, equivalent to stiff +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɪfən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪfən

Verb

stiffen (third-person singular simple present stiffens, present participle stiffening, simple past and past participle stiffened)

1. (transitive) To make stiff.
   • 2013 March 7, “President signs Violence Against Women Act”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Criminal prosecutions of abusers are generally the responsibility of local authorities, but the act stiffened sentences for stalking under federal law.

   • 2016 October 11, Parija Kavilanz, “This robot makes a T-shirt from start to finish”, in CNN Business‎^[2]:

     It followed a sequence of functions: a machine cuts cloth panels to be sewn, the panels are drenched with the polymer and stiffened, a robotic arm uses suction cups to lift each panel and position it in a sewing machine. Finally, the robotic arm lifts the stitched T-shirt off the sewing machine. […] The system could work for most fabrics, with the exception of leather and waterproof materials that can't be drenched with the stiffening polymer. […] Zornow has patents pending in 10 countries for the process to stiffen fabric.

2. (intransitive) To become stiff.
   • 2003, Yoko Ogawa, The Housekeeper and the Professor:

     Bewildered by the unexpected greeting, my son stiffened, but managed a polite answer.

   • 2018 November 8, Dr. Melina Jampolis, “The real science behind fascia ailments”, in CNN‎^[3]:

     He does note that fascia, like most connective tissue in the body, stiffens with age, overuse and injury.

Synonyms

• starken

Derived terms

• stiffen up

Related terms

• stiff

Translations

to make stiff

• Bulgarian: втвърдявам (bg) (vtvǎrdjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使僵硬

• Finnish: jäykistää, jähmettää (fi), kangistaa
• French: raidir (fr), endurcir (fr)
• German: aussteifen, versteifen (de), verstärken (de), ertüchtigen (de), aufdoppeln
• Ido: rigidigar (io)
• Irish: stalc
• Italian: irrigidire
• Maori: whakamakiki, whakawhena
• Norwegian: stivne
• Portuguese: endurecer (pt)
• Romanian: întări (ro)
• Spanish: atiesar (es), entiesar (es), endurecer (es)
• Volapük: stifükön (vo)

to become stiff

• Arabic: جَمَدَ (jamada)
• Bulgarian: втвърдявам се (vtvǎrdjavam se), вкочанясвам се (vkočanjasvam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 变硬 (zh)

• Czech: ztuhnout (cs) pf, ztvrdnout pf
• Danish: stivne
• Finnish: jäykistyä (fi), jähmettyä (fi), kangistua (fi)
• French: se raidir (fr), s’endurcir (fr)
• German: versteifen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌽𐌰𐌽 (gastaurknan)
• Hungarian: merevedik (hu)
• Icelandic: stífna
• Ingrian: kangeta
• Irish: stalc
• Italian: irrigidirsi, indurirsi, solidificarsi (it)
• Latin: rigēscō
• Mansi:

  Northern Mansi: а̄гмалтаӈкве (āgmaltaňkve)

• Norwegian: stivne
• Portuguese: endurecer (pt)
• Romanian: întări (ro)
• Slovak: stvrdnúť pf, stuhnúť pf
• Spanish: atiesarse (es), entiesarse (es), endurecerse (es)
• Swedish: styvna (sv), stelna (sv), bli styv (sv), bli stel (sv)
• Volapük: stifikön (vo)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} rigidar (se)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} atiesarse (es), ^{(please verify)} endurecerse (es)

Anagrams

• infefts