# stem

> English word · Noun · IPA /stɛm/ · frequency rank #4,336

## Definitions
1. The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors.
2. A branch of a family.
3. A branch of a family.
4. An advanced or leading position; the lookout.
5. The above-ground stalk (technically axis) of a vascular plant, and certain anatomically similar, below-ground organs such as rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, and corms.
6. A slender supporting member of an individual part of a plant such as a flower or a leaf; also, by analogy, the shaft of a feather.
7. A narrow part on certain man-made objects, such as a wine glass, a tobacco pipe, a spoon.
8. The main part of an uninflected word to which affixes may be added to form inflections of the word. A stem often has a more fundamental root. Systematic conjugations and declensions derive from their stems.
9. A person's leg.
10. The penis.
11. A vertical stroke of a letter.
12. A vertical stroke marking the length of a note in written music.
13. A premixed portion of a track for use in audio mastering and remixing.
14. The vertical or nearly vertical forward extension of the keel, to which the forward ends of the planks or strakes are attached.
15. The front part of a vessel.
16. A component on a bicycle that connects the handlebars to the bicycle fork.
17. A part of an anatomic structure considered without its possible branches or ramifications.
18. A crack pipe; or the long, hollow portion of a similar pipe (i.e. meth pipe) resembling a crack pipe.
19. A winder on a clock, watch, or similar mechanism.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **sum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-sum)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-sue)
- **STR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-str)
- **STS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-sts)
- **Stu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-stu)
- **STI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-sti)
- **STM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-stm)
- **STP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-stp)
- **sth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-sth)
- **stop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-stop)
- **swim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-swim)
- **stir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-stir)
- **sued** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-sued)
- **stud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-stud)
- **stew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-stew)
- **stun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-stun)
- **swam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-swam)
- **Sven** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-sven)
- **Suez** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-suez)
- **stub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stem-vs-stub)

## Common misspellings (6)
`setm`, `sstem`, `stemm`, `stme`, `sttem`, `tsem`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stem