dunt

D2U1N1T1

noun

A stroke; a dull-sounding blow.

OriginMiddle English dunt ← Old English dynt ← Proto-West Germanic *dunti →
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Meanings

dunt1

noundunt (plural dunts)

plural dunts

  1. ScotlandA stroke; a dull-sounding blow.

    He was alive to every creak andd dunt, the thinness of the walls, as if the tenement block was a kind of aural panopticon that funnelled every sound to the other residents, let everyone eavesdrop on their business.

    2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 274
verbdunt (third-person singular simple present dunts, present participle dunting, simple past and past participle dunted)

present singular third person dunts · participle present dunting · participle past dunted · past dunted

  1. ScotlandTo strike; give a blow to; knock.

    Syne he was the king of France, and fought hard with a whin bush till he had banged it to pieces. After that nothing would content him but he must be a bogle, for he found his head dunting on the stars and his legs were knocking the hills together.

    1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

dunt2

noundunt (uncountable)
  1. UKdialectaluncountableThe disease gid or sturdy in sheep.

dunt3

contraction

alternative dun't

  1. Yorkshirecontractionpronunciation spellingPronunciation spelling of don't.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰen-“to beat, push”
  2. Proto-Germanic*duntiz“shock, blow”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*dunti
  4. Old Englishdynt“dint, blow, strike, stroke, bruise, stripe, thud, the mark or noise of a blow, a bruise, noise, crash”
  5. Middle Englishdunt
  6. Englishdunt

From Middle English dunt, dynt, from Old English dynt (“dint, blow, strike, stroke, bruise, stripe, thud, the mark or noise of a blow, a bruise, noise, crash”), from Proto-West Germanic *dunti, from Proto-Germanic *duntiz (“shock, blow”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰen- (“to beat, push”). Cognate with Swedish dialectal dunt (“stroke”). Doublet of dent and dint.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

dunt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dunt

MLA

“dunt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dunt. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dunt,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dunt.

Source: dunt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.