stem

CEFRB2

/stɛm/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The main supporting part of a plant.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A branch of a family.

Examples

  • A rose has thorns on its stem.

  • Scientists are fighting to stem the spread of the AIDS virus.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /stem/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

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

  2. A branch, or group of branches, located outside a family or other cladistic group, but which is more closely related to that group than to any other taxon of the same rank.

  3. An advanced or leading position; the lookout.

More examples

In context

  • The cut was bandaged to stem the bleeding.

  • the stem of an apple or a cherry

  • to stem cherries; to stem tobacco leaves

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Most healthy plant growth actually blank from the roots underground.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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 (s...