stem

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed

   thematic vowels are part of the stem

2. 2
   verb

   remove the stem from

   for automatic natural language processing, the words must be stemmed

3. 3
   verb

   grow out of, have roots in, originate in

   The increase in the national debt stems from the last war

4. 4
   verb

   cause to point inward

   stem your skis

5. 5
   noun

   The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors.

   Where ye may all that are of noble ſtemm / Approach, and kiſs her ſacred veſtures hemm.

6. 6
   noun

   A branch of a family.

   This is a stem / Of that victorious stock.

7. 7
   noun

   An advanced or leading position; the lookout.

   Wolsey sat at the stem more than twenty years.

8. 8
   noun

   The above-ground stalk (technically axis) of a vascular plant, and certain anatomically similar, below-ground organs such as rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, and corms.

   After they are shot up thirty feet in length, they spread a very large top, having no bough nor twig in the trunk or the stem.

Etymology

From Middle English stem, stemme, stempne, stevin, from Old English stemn (“stem”), from Proto-West Germanic *stamni, from Proto-Germanic *stamniz (“stem, tree stalk”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, stay”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch stam (“stem”), German Stamm (“stem”), Danish and Norwegian stamme (“stem”), Danish stavn, stævn (“stem of a boat”), Faroese stavnur (“stem of a boat”), stovnur (“institution, public body, foundation, basis”), Icelandic stafn (“stem of a boat”), stofn (“trunk, stock, livestock, stem”), Norn stomna, stimna (“strength, ability”), Swedish st…