stern

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“
She had a flush deck from the bows to the stern, broken only, for perhaps twenty feet, by a well between the forecastle head and the fore part of the bridge Running aft from the bridge to within forty feet of the stern was an unbroken line of deck houses.

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Definitions (50)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. adjective Hard, harsh, or severe in manner or character: a stern disciplinarian. See Synonyms at severe.
  2. adjective Grim, gloomy, or forbidding in appearance or outlook.
  3. adjective Firm or unyielding; uncompromising.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (33)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

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Examples (50)

  • Each tree grows a little different so every boat you make, you know, the rake of the stem and the rake of the stern is a little different too, and [266] that makes it so you ;as different ;ulls. —  The Shipping News
  • Now the stern was as high as the bows of the other ships. —  MacDonald, John D. - Wine of the Dreamers (v1.0) (html)
  • Now he looked a different man; his expression stern, the stamp of authority on him, he seemed even to have grown taller. —  My Disillusionment in Russia
  • “Still, the stern is the best place to be.” The secretary gave her one of his pleasant, seductive smiles. —  AHMM,April2008
  • Bunks are substituted for bedrooms and the stern is arranged for garage space. —  Modern Mechanix
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

grim ·  solemn ·  haughty ·  rigid ·  sullen ·  cold

Used in the same contextWord Family

stern:   sterns
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English sterne, from Old English styrne; see ster-1 in Indo-European roots.
  2. Middle English sterne, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse stjōrn, rudder; see stā- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English stern, sterin, sterne, sturne, from Anglo-Saxon styrne, severe, austere, stern (also in comp. styrn-mōd, stern-minded); akin to Old High German stornēn, be astonished, sturni, stupor; perhaps related to Old High German storrēn, Middle High German storren, stand out, project, = Gothic (Moesogothic) *staurran, in comp. and-staurran, murmur against, also to D. stuursch, stern, = Swedish stursk, refractory, and to Icelandic stūra, gloom, despair, stūra, mope, fret.
  2. from Middle English sterne, steerne, steorne (not found in Anglo-Saxon, where only steór, a rudder, appears: see steer, n.) = OFries. stiorne, stiarne, a rudder, = Icelandic stjōrn, a steering, steerage, rudder; with formative -n, from the root of Anglo-Saxon steór, English steer, etc., a rudder: see steer, n. and v.
  3. from stern, n.
  4. A variant of tern: see tern, and cf. Sterna.
 

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/stərn/
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