staunch

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
staunch1 /stɔːn(t)ʃ/

▶adjective

• 1 very loyal and committed.

• 2 (of a wall) of sturdy construction.

  ■ (also stanch) archaic (of a ship) watertight.

– derivatives
staunchly adverb,
staunchness noun.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘watertight’): from OFr. estanche, fem. of estanc, from a base meaning ‘dried up, weary’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
staunch2 /stɔːn(t)ʃ, stɑːn(t)ʃ/ (US also stanch)

▶verb stop or restrict (a flow of blood from a wound).

– origin ME: from OFr. estanchier, from the base of staunch1.