stem1 (stem)

t.; pret. and pp. stemmed, ppr. stemming. [ [ *stem, stam, steven, prow of a ship (> G. steven, stem ( vorder -steven, 'fore stem,' prow, hinter steven, hind stem, sternpost)), = Icel. stafn, stamn, also stefni, stemni, stem of a ship (prow or stern), = Dan. stevn, stavn = Sw. stäf, prow (fram-stam, 'fore stem,' prow, bakstam, 'back stem,' stem); a particular use, with variations of form, of AS. stemn, stefn, E. stem1, etc., stem, trunk, post: see stem1. The naut. use in E. is prob. in part of Scand. origin.] 1. A curved piece of timber or metal to which the two sides of a ship are united at the foremost end. The lower end of it is scarfed or riveted to the keel, and the bowsprit, when pres ent, rests on its upper end. In wooden ships it is frequently called the main stem, to distinguish it from the false stem, or cutwater. IMG:content-2080.png:[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small] The outside of the stem is usually marked with a scale showing the perpendicular height from the keel, for indicating the draft of water forward. See also cut under forecastle. Pretious jewells fecht from far By Italian march ants that with Ru ian stemes Plous up huge forrowes in the Terren Maine. The Taming of the Shrew, p. 22. (Hall i well.) 2. The forward part of a ve el; the bow. Turnynge therfore the stemmes of his shyppes towarde the Easte, he affyrmed that he had founde the Ilande of Ophir. Peter Martyr (tr. in Eden's First Books on [America, ed. Arber, p. 66). Ye may all, that are of noble stem , Approach, and ki her sacred vesture's hem. Milton, Arcades, 1. 82. 4. A branch of a family; an offshoot. Richard Plantage net,.. Sweet stem from York's great stock. Shak ., 1 Hen. VI., ii. 5. 41. 5. Anything resembling the stem of a plant. Specifically-(a) The handle of a tool. Hall i well . [Prov. Eng.] (b) That part of a vase, cup, or goblet which unites the body to the foot or base, in examples where the body is not immediately set upon the latter. Wine-gla es or goblets are cla ified by the nature of their stems, or by the nature of their feet. H. J. Powell, Gla -Making, p. 61. (c) In type - founding, the thick stroke or body-mark of a roman or italic letter. See cut under type. (d) In a vehicle, a bar to which the bow of a falling hood is hinged. (e) The projecting rod of a reciprocating valve, serving to guide it in its action. See cut under slide - valve. (f) In zool. and an at., any slender, especially axial, part like the stem of a plant; a stalk, stipe, rachis, footstalk, etc. ( g ) In ornith., the whole shaft of a feather. (h) In entom., the base of a clavate antenna, including all the joints except the enlarged outer ones: used especially in descriptions of the Lepidoptera. stemming. [ They stood off again, and, returning with a good gale, they stemmed her upon the quarter, and almost overset her. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 226. 21. To keep (a ve el) on its course; steer. He is the master of true courage that all the time sedately stems the ship. Cornel i us Nepos in English (1723), Ded. ( Encyc . Dict .) Stemodia He sat down to his milk-porridge, which it was his old frugal habit to stem his morning hunger with. George Eliot, Mill on the Flo , i. 12. 2. To tamp; make tight, as a joint, with a lute or cement.