The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Stout \Stout\ (stout), a. [Compar. Stouter (stout"[~e]r);
   superl. Stoutest.] [D. stout bold (or OF. estout bold,
   proud, of Teutonic origin); akin to AS. stolt, G. stolz, and
   perh. to E. stilt.]
   1. Strong; lusty; vigorous; robust; sinewy; muscular; hence,
      firm; resolute; dauntless.
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            With hearts stern and stout.          --Chaucer.
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            A stouter champion never handled sword. --Shak.
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            He lost the character of a bold, stout, magnanimous
            man.                                  --Clarendon.
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            The lords all stand
            To clear their cause, most resolutely stout.
                                                  --Daniel.
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   2. Proud; haughty; arrogant; hard. [Archaic]
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            Your words have been stout against me. --Mal. iii.
                                                  13.
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            Commonly . . . they that be rich are lofty and
            stout.                                --Latimer.
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   3. Firm; tough; materially strong; enduring; as, a stout
      vessel, stick, string, or cloth.
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   4. Large; bulky; corpulent.
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   Syn: Stout, Corpulent, Portly.

   Usage: Corpulent has reference simply to a superabundance or
          excess of flesh. Portly implies a kind of stoutness or
          corpulence which gives a dignified or imposing
          appearance. Stout, in our early writers (as in the
          English Bible), was used chiefly or wholly in the
          sense of strong or bold; as, a stout champion; a stout
          heart; a stout resistance, etc. At a later period it
          was used for thickset or bulky, and more recently,
          especially in England, the idea has been carried still
          further, so that Taylor says in his Synonyms: "The
          stout man has the proportions of an ox; he is
          corpulent, fat, and fleshy in relation to his size."
          In America, stout is still commonly used in the
          original sense of strong as, a stout boy; a stout
          pole.
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