
Noah Webster
Distain
DISTAIN, verb transitive [dis and stain. Latin See Stain.]
1. To stain; to tinge with any different color from the natural or proper one; to discolor. We speak of a sword distained with blood; a garment distained with gore. It has precisely the signification of stain, but is used chiefly or appropriately in poetry and the higher kinds of prose.
2. To blot; to sully; to defile; to tarnish.
She distained her honorable blood.
The worthiness of praise distains his worth.