stem

/stˈɛm/ · 1 syllable

Meaning

noun

(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
“thematic vowels are part of the stem”
a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ
cylinder forming a long narrow part of something
the tube of a tobacco pipe
front part of a vessel or aircraft
“he pointed the bow of the boat toward the finish line”
a turn made in skiing; the back of one ski is forced outward and the other ski is brought parallel to it

verb

grow out of, have roots in, originate in
“The increase in the national debt stems from the last war”
cause to point inward
“stem your skis”
stop the flow of a liquid
“staunch the blood flow”
remove the stem from
“for automatic natural language processing, the words must be stemmed”

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