The verb form "stenting" was used for centuries to describe the process of stiffening garments (a usage long obsolete, per the "Oxford English Dictionary") and some believe this to be the origin. According to the Merriam Webster Third New International Dictionary, the noun evolved from the Middle English verb "stenten", shortened from "extenten", meaning to stretch, which in turn came from Latin "extentus", past participle of "extendere", to stretch out. Others attribute the noun "stent" to Jan F. Esser, a Dutch plastic surgeon who in 1916 used the word to describe a dental impression compound invented in 1856 by the English dentist Charles Stent (1807–1885), whom Esser employed to craft a form for facial reconstruction. The full account is described in the "Journal of the History of Dentistry". According to the author, from the use of Stent's compound as a support for facial tissues evolved the use of a stent to hold open various body structures.