STEM; STEEM
Stem, Steem, n.
Defn: A gleam of light; flame. [Obs.]
STEM Stem, n. Etym: [AS. stemn, stefn, stæfn; akin to OS. stamn the stem of a ship, D. stam stem, steven stem of a ship, G. stamm stem, steven stem of a ship, Icel. stafn, stamn, stem of a ship, stofn, stomn, stem, Sw. stam a tree trunk, Dan. stamme. Cf. Staff, Stand.]
1. The principal body of a tree, shrub, or plant, of any kind; the main stock; the part which supports the branches or the head or top. After they are shot up thirty feet in length, they spread a very large top, having no bough nor twig in the trunk or the stem. Sir W. Raleigh. The lowering spring, with lavish rain, Beats down the slender stem and breaded grain. Dryden.
2. A little branch which connects a fruit, flower, or leaf with a main branch; a peduncle, pedicel, or petiole; as, the stem of an apple or a cherry.
3. The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors. "All that are of noble stem." Milton. While I do pray, learn here thy stem And true descent. Herbert.
4. A branch of a family. This is a stem Of that victorious stock. Shak.
5. (Naut.)
Defn: A curved piece of timber to which the two sides of a ship are united at the fore end. The lower end of it is scarfed to the keel, and the bowsprit rests upon its upper end. Hence, the forward part of a vessel; the bow.
6. Fig.: An advanced or leading position; the lookout. Wolsey sat at the stem more than twenty years. Fuller.