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stem¹

(stĕm)

a. The main ascending part of a plant; a stalk or trunk.

b. A slender stalk supporting or connecting another plant part, such as a leaf or flower.

c. A banana stalk bearing several bunches of bananas.

2. A connecting or supporting part, especially:

a. The tube of a tobacco pipe.

b. The slender upright support of a wineglass or goblet.

c. The small projecting shaft with an expanded crown by which a watch is wound.

d. The rounded rod in the center of certain locks about which the key fits and is turned.

e. The shaft of a feather or hair.

f. The upright stroke of a typeface or letter.

g. Music The vertical line extending from the head of a note.

3. The main line of descent of a family.

4. Linguistics The main part of a word to which affixes are added.

5. Nautical The curved upright beam at the fore of a vessel into which the hull timbers are scarfed to form the prow.

6. The tubular glass structure mounting the filament or electrodes in an incandescent bulb or vacuum tube.

v. stemmed, stem·ming, stems

v.intr.

To have or take origin or descent: Her success stems mostly from hard work.

v.tr.

1. To remove the stem of: stemmed the apples.

2. To provide with a stem: wine glasses that are stemmed.

3. To make headway against (a tide or current, for example).

Idiom:

from stem to stern

From one end to another.

[Middle English, from Old English stefn, stemn; see stā- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: stem¹, arise, derive, emanate, flow, issue, originate, proceed, rise, spring
These verbs mean to come forth or come into being: customs that stem from the past; misery that arose from war; rights that derive from citizenship; disapproval that emanated from the teacher; happiness that flows from their friendship; prejudice that issues from fear; a proposal that originated in the Congress; a mistake that proceeded from carelessness; rebellion that rises in the provinces; new industries that spring from technology.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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