stealth

English

Etymology

From Middle English stelthe, from Old English *stǣlþ, from Proto-Germanic *stēliþō, equivalent to steal +‎ -th. Compare Old English stalu (“theft, stealth”), Old High German stāla (“theft”), German Diebstahl (“theft”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: stĕlth, IPA^(key): /stɛlθ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlθ

Noun

stealth (countable and uncountable, plural stealths)

1. (uncountable) The attribute or characteristic of acting in secrecy, or in such a way that the actions are unnoticed or difficult to detect by others.
2. (archaic, countable) An act of secrecy, especially one involving thievery.
   • 1877, George Hill, An Historical Account of the Plantation in Ulster at the Commencement of the Seventeenth Century, M'Caw, Stevenson & Orr, page 352:

     [The King] thinks it fit[...] that restitution according to this order be made to the petitioners for stealths committed upon them last winter (273).

Derived terms

• stealth bomber
• stealth fighter
• stealth game
• stealth mode (“secretive behaviour, to reduce the visibility (or ideally be invisible), or characteristic of being furtive or covert”)
• stealthy

 

Related terms

• steal

Translations

attribute or characteristic of acting in secrecy

• Catalan: furtivitat f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 隱身／隐身 (yánsān), 隱形／隐形 (yányìng)

  Mandarin: 隱身／隐身 (zh) (yǐnjuān), 隱形／隐形 (zh) (yǐnxíng)

• Finnish: salamyhkäisyys (fi), salakähmäisyys (fi), häive-, häivetekniikka
• French: furtivité (fr) f, discrétion (fr) f
• German: Heimlichkeit (de) f
• Japanese: ステルス (suterusu), ^{(please verify)} 隱形 (いんけい, inkei), ^{(please verify)} 隱身 (いんしん, inshin), ^{(please verify)} 隠密 (おんみつ, onmitsu), ^{(please verify)} 掩蔽 (えんぺい, enpei)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Macedonian: прикраду́вање n (prikradúvanje), по́тајност f (pótajnost)
• Persian: پنهان‌کار (penhân-kâr)
• Portuguese: furtividade f
• Russian: хи́трость (ru) f (xítrostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: по̏таја f, прѝта̄јено̄ст f

  Roman: pȍtaja (sh) f, prìtājenōst (sh) f

• Spanish: sigilo (es) m

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

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} steels (nl), ^{(please verify)} stiekem (nl)
• Kurdish: ,
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} cautela (es), ^{(please verify)} sigilo (es)

Verb

stealth (third-person singular simple present stealths, present participle stealthing, simple past and past participle stealthed)

1. (military, computing) To conceal or infiltrate through the use of stealth.
2. (slang) To have sexual intercourse a sexual partner without a condom through deception (for example, to remove the condom mid-act).
   • 2017, “Stealthing”: Feminists open Pandora’s box of sexual assault double standards:

     “Stealthing” is an immoral behaviour practiced by both men and women, but only punishes men.

Anagrams

• Haslett, haltest, lasteth, salteth, stethal