stem
 I. stem1 (stĕm)n.
1.
a. The main ascending axis of a plant; a stalk or trunk.
b. A slender stalk supporting or connecting another plant part, such as a leaf or flower.
2. A banana stalk bearing several bunches of bananas.
3. 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.
4. The main line of descent of a family.
5. Linguistics. The main part of a word to which affixes are added.
6. Nautical. The curved upright beam at the fore of a vessel into which the hull timbers are scarfed to form the prow.
7. The tubular glass structure mounting the filament or electrodes in an incandescent bulb or vacuum tube.v. stemmed, stem·ming, stemsv. intr.
To have or take origin or descent.v. tr.
1. To remove the stem of.
2. To provide with a stem.
3. To make headway against:
managed to stem the rebellion.Idiom:from stem to stern
From one end to another. [Middle English, from Old English stefn, stemn. See stā- in 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 up. II. stem2 (stĕm)v. stemmed, stem·ming, stemsv. tr.
1. To stop or hold back by or as if by damming; stanch.
2. To plug or tamp (a blast hole, for example).
3. Sports. To point (skis) inward.v. intr. Sports
To point skis inward in order to slow down or turn. [Middle English stemmen, from Old Norse stemma.]
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