Stem

(stem.) [From A. S. ste mn.] (Bot.) That part of aplant which bears or has borne leaves or their rudiments; the ascending axis of growth. It may be either subterranean, or exposed to the air and light.-(Shipbuilding.) The fore part of a ship's frame; or that circular piece of timber into which the side-planks of the ship are scarfed to the keel (from which it rises perpendicularly), and which unite at the bows, where the S. is backed by the stem son and apron: - correlative to stern, as in the phrase from stem to stern, that is, from the forward end of the ship to the other. [s. 856]