stern

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Serious and strict, expecting to be obeyed.

   The teacher gave us a stern warning about being late.

2. 2
   adj

   Strict and demanding, not easily satisfied.

   She is a stern judge of poor work.

3. 3
   noun

   The back part of a ship or boat.

   He stood at the stern and watched the harbor disappear.

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”).

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