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Webster 1913 Edition

Stern

Stern

,
Noun.
[AS.
stearn
a kind of bird. See
Starling
.]
(Zool.)
The black tern.

Stern

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Sterner
;
sup
erl.
Sternest
.]
[OE.
sterne
,
sturne
, AS.
styrne
; cf. D.
stuurish
stern, Sw.
stursk
refractory. √166.]
Having a certain hardness or severity of nature, manner, or aspect; hard; severe; rigid; rigorous; austere; fixed; unchanging; unrelenting; hence, serious; resolute; harsh;
as, a
stern
resolve; a
stern
necessity; a
stern
heart; a
stern
gaze; a
stern
decree.
The
sterne
wind so loud gan to rout.
Chaucer.
I would outstare the
sternest
eyes that look.
Shakespeare
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept;
Ambition should be made of
sterner
stuff.
Shakespeare
Stern
as tutors, and as uncles hard.
Dryden.
These barren rocks, your
stern
inheritance.
Wordsworth.
Syn. – Gloomy; sullen; forbidding; strict; unkind; hard-hearted; unfeeling; cruel; pitiless.

Stern

,
Noun.
[Icel.
stjōrn
a steering, or a doubtful AS.
steórn
. √166. See
Steer
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
The helm or tiller of a vessel or boat; also, the rudder.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
2.
(Naut.)
The after or rear end of a ship or other vessel, or of a boat; the part opposite to the stem, or prow.
3.
Fig.: The post of management or direction.
And sit chiefest
stern
of public weal.
Shakespeare
4.
The hinder part of anything.
Spenser.
5.
The tail of an animal; – now used only of the tail of a dog.
By the stern
.
(Naut.)
See
By the head
, under
By
.

Stern

,
Adj.
Being in the stern, or being astern;
as, the
stern
davits
.
Stern board
(Naut.)
,
a going or falling astern; a loss of way in making a tack;
as, to make a
stern board
. See
Board
,
Noun.
, 8
(b)
.
–
Stern chase
.
(Naut.)
(a)
See under
Chase
,
Noun.
(b)
A stern chaser.
–
Stern chaser
(Naut.)
,
a cannon placed in a ship’s stern, pointing backward, and intended to annoy a ship that is in pursuit.
–
Stern fast
(Naut.)
,
a rope used to confine the stern of a ship or other vessel, as to a wharf or buoy.
–
Stern frame
(Naut.)
,
the framework of timber forms the stern of a ship.
–
Stern knee
.
See
Sternson
.
–
Stern port
(Naut.)
,
a port, or opening, in the stern of a ship.
–
Stern sheets
(Naut.)
,
that part of an open boat which is between the stern and the aftmost seat of the rowers, – usually furnished with seats for passengers.
–
Stern wheel
,
a paddle wheel attached to the stern of the steamboat which it propels.

Webster 1828 Edition

Stern

STERN

,
Adj.
[G., staring; stubborn. See Stare, Starck, Stark, with which this word is probably connected.]
1.
Severe; austere; fixed with an aspect of severity and authority; as a stern look; a stern countenance; a stern frown.
I would outstare the sternest eyes that look.
2.
Severe of manner; rigid; harsh; cruel.
Stern as tutors, and as uncles hard.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
3.
Hard; afflictive.
If wolves had at thy gate howld that stern time.
4.
Rigidly stedfast; immovable.
Stern virtue is the growth of few soils.

STERN

,
Noun.
1.
The hind part of a ship or other vessel, or of a boat; the part opposite to the stern or prow. This part of a ship is terminated by the tafferel above, and by the counters below.
2.
Post of management; direction.
An sit at chiefest stern of public weal. [Not in use. We now say, to sit at the helm.]
3.
The hinder part of any thing. [Not elegant.]
By the stern, is a phrase which denotes that a ship is more deeply laden abaft than forward.

Definition 2024

Stern

Stern

See also: stern

German

Picture dictionary
SternStern
About this image
Himmelskörper
About this image

Himmelskörper

Planet
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Planet

Sterne am Nachthimmel — Stars in the night sky (1, 2)
Eine Animation des Sterns Sirius — An animation of the star Sirius. (2)
Auf der Flagge von Chile ist ein weißer Stern. — There is a white star on the flag of Chile. (3,4)

Noun

Stern m ‎(genitive Sterns or Sternes, plural Sterne, diminutive Sternchen n or Sternlein n)

  1. a star; a small luminous dot that can be seen on the night sky
    Barnards Stern — Barnard's Star
    Morgenstern — morning star

Wenn ein Stern in finst´rer Nacht
strahlend dir entgegenlacht,
schau zum Himmel und
du hast drei Wünsche frei‎

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
  1. (astronomy) a star; the actual celestial body
  2. (geometry, heraldry) a star, a mullet, or anything that resembles such an object
    fünfzackiger Stern — five-pointed star
    Davidstern — Star of David
    Sternenbanner — stars and stripes (the flag of the USA)
    NATO-Stern — NATO star
    der rote Stern — the red star
  3. a star; the symbol used to rate hotels, movies, etc.
    Fünf-Sterne-Hotel — five-star hotel
  4. (printing, chiefly Sternchen) an asterisk (*)
    • 2007, Klaus M. Rodewig and Amin Negm-Awad, Objective-C und Cocoa: Programmieren unter Apple Mac OS X, 2nd edition, page 83:
      Bei der Deklaration eines Zeigers kann der Stern (Asterisk) sowohl beim Namen der Variablen (int *zahl) als auch beim Datentyp (int* zahl) stehen.
  5. (figuratively, chiefly Sternchen) a star, starlet, celebrity, something or somebody popular
    ein Schlagerstern(chen) — a schlager-music starlet
  6. (meteorology) a stellar crystal, a snow crystal possessing the shape of a star

Declension

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Synonyms

  • (celestial body): Gestirn n
  • (asterisk): Asterisk m
  • (celebrity): Star m

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

stern

stern

See also: Stern

English

Pronunciation

  • enPR: stû(r)n, IPA(key): /stɜː(ɹ)n/
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n

Adjective

stern ‎(comparative sterner, superlative sternest)

  1. Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
    • John Dryden
      stern as tutors, and as uncles hard
    • 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
      Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins.
  2. Grim and forbidding in appearance.
Translations

Etymology 2

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.

Noun

stern ‎(plural sterns)

Stern of the VOC ship 'Amsterdam' (replica)
  1. (nautical) The rear part or after end of a ship or vessel.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.
  2. (figuratively) The post of management or direction.
  3. The hinder part of anything.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
  4. The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog.
Antonyms
Derived terms
See also
Translations
figuratively: post of management or direction

Etymology 3

From a variant of tern.

Noun

stern ‎(plural sterns)

  1. A bird, the black tern.
Translations

Anagrams

Mòcheno

Etymology

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

Noun

stern m ‎(plural [please provide])

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

References

  • Anthony R. Rowley, Liacht as de sproch: Grammatica della lingua mòchena Deutsch-Fersentalerisch, TEMI, 2003.

Etymology

From Old High German sterno, from Proto-Germanic *sternǭ, *sternô (compare Dutch ster ‎(“star”), Old English steorra ‎(“star”) (Modern English star), Danish stjerne ‎(“star”), Swedish stjärna ‎(“star”), Icelandic stjarna ‎(“star”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 ‎(stairnō)). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr. Further cognates include Latin stēlla ‎(“star”), Ancient Greek ἀστήρ ‎(astḗr, “star”) and Sanskrit तारा ‎(tārā, “star”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃtɛʁn/, [ʃtɛʁn], [ʃtɛɐ̯n]
  • Rhymes: -ɛʁn

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