Plural of dint; small dents or impressions in a surface, or instances of force or effort that create an effect.
From Old English 'dynt,' plural formation with the '-s' suffix standard in Modern English.
You can see the word 'dint' lingering in modern English in the scholarly phrase 'by dint of,' but it also appears in older literature meaning 'blow,' connecting it to its Norse cousins—a word from when English and Scandinavian languages were still quite similar.
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