Etymology

stem

S1T1E1M3

Today it means: The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors. Full definition →

Middle English stemme ← Old English stemn ← Proto-West Germanic *stamni
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stem · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*stéh₂mn̥
  3. Proto-Indo-European*sth₂mnís
  4. Proto-Germanic*stamniz
  5. Proto-West Germanic*stamni
  6. Old Englishstemn
  7. Middle Englishstemme
  8. English todaystem

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 stäm (“tree trunk, stem”), stäv (“stem of a boat”), stomme (“frame, structure”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐍉𐌼𐌰 (stōma, “substantial grounds, just cause”), Asturian estame (“stamen”), Aragonese estambre (“stamen”), Catalan estam (“stamen”), French étaim (“yarn”), Galician estame (“stamen, yarn”), Italian stame (“stamen”), Portuguese estame (“stem, yarn”), Spanish Spanish estambre (“stamen, a type of yarn”), Latin stāmen (“warp of a loom, thread hanging from a distaff”), Ancient Greek στῆμα (stêma, “stamen of a flower”), στάμνος (stámnos, “earthen jar, bottle for racking off wine”), Albanian shtamë (“pot, jar, pitcher, jug”), Sanskrit स्थामन् (sthā́man, “place, strength”). Doublet of stamen. Not related to English stoma, which is a Greek loan inherited through New Latin.

stem · verb2

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*stammijaną
  2. Old Norse · derived fromstemma“to stop, stem, dam”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromstemmen
  4. English todaystem

From Middle English stemmen, a borrowing from Old Norse stemma (“to stop, stem, dam”) (whence Danish stemme/stæmme (“to stem, dam up”)), from Proto-Germanic *stammijaną. Cognate with German stemmen, Middle Dutch stemmen, stempen. Compare stammer.

stem · noun3

Acronym of science, technology, engineering, (and) mathematics.

stem · noun4

Blend of stud + femme.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*steh₂- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.