stern

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.

   I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now, / Euen by the ſterne, and direfull God of warre, / VVhoſe ſinowie necke in battel nere did bow, / VVho conquers where he comes in euery iarre; […]

2. 2
   adj

   Grim and forbidding in appearance.

   these barren rocks, your stern inheritance

3. 3
   noun

   The rear part (after end) of a ship or other vessel.

   Holonyms: watercraft < vessel

4. 4
   noun

   The post of management or direction.

   and sit chiefest stern of public weal

5. 5
   noun

   The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog.

   And all attonce her beaſtly bodie raizd / With doubled forces high aboue the ground: / Tho wrapping vp her wrethed ſterne arownd, / Lept fierce vpon his ſhield, [...]

6. 6
   adj

   severe and unremitting in making demands

7. 7
   adj

   of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor

8. 8
   adj

   not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty

Etymology

From Middle English stern, sterne, sturne, from Old English styrne (“stern, grave, strict, austere, hard, severe, cruel”), from Proto-Germanic *sturnijaz (“angry, astonished, shocked”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“rigid, stiff”). Cognate with Scots stern (“bold, courageous, fierce, resolute”), Old High German stornēn (“to be astonished”), Dutch stuurs (“glum, austere”), Swedish stursk (“insolent”).