See also: Stern


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Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English stern, sterne, sturne, from Old English styrne (stern, grave, strict, austere, hard, severe, cruel), from Proto-Germanic *sturnijaz (angry, astonished, shocked), from Proto-Indo-European *ster-, *ter- (rigid, stiff). Cognate with Scots stern (bold, courageous, fierce, resolute), Old High German stornēn (to be astonished), Dutch stuurs (glum, austere), Swedish stursk (insolent).



stern (comparative sterner, superlative sternest)

  1. Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
    • John Dryden
      stern as tutors, and as uncles hard
  2. Grim and forbidding in appearance.

Etymology 2Edit

Most likely from Old Norse stjórn (control, steering), related to stýra (to steer), from Proto-Germanic *stiurijaną, whence also English steer. Also possibly from Old Frisian stiarne (rudder), from the same Germanic root.


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stern (plural sterns)

  1. (nautical) The rear part or after end of a ship or vessel.
  2. (figuratively) The post of management or direction.
  3. The hinder part of anything.
  4. The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog.
Derived termsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

Old English


stern (plural sterns)

  1. A bird, the black tern.




From Old High German sterno, from Proto-Germanic *sternǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr.


stern m (please provide plural)

  1. star (luminous dot appearing in the night sky)


  • Anthony R. Rowley, Liacht as de sproch: Grammatica della lingua mòchena Deutsch-Fersentalerisch, TEMI, 2003.
Last modified on 18 February 2014, at 18:55