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- (“rigid, stiff”). Cognate with Scots stern (“bold, courageous, fierce, resolute”), Old High German stornēn (“to be astonished”), Dutch stuurs (“glum, austere”), Swedish stursk (“insolent”).
Meanings
Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now, / Euen by the ſterne, and direfull God of warre, / VVhoſe ſinowie necke in battel nere did bow, / VVho conquers where he comes in euery iarre; […] 1594, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 17], lines [97–100]:
stern as tutors, and as uncles hard 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The First Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
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. 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
Grim and forbidding in appearance.
these barren rocks, your stern inheritance 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion:
la firmātus (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sh jak (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · de unnachsichtig (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sh čvrst (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · fr sévère (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sk tvrdý (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · la tētricus (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · it duro (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · ro sever (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · bg неприве́тлив (grim and forbidding in appearance) · fi kova (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · pt severo (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sv hård (grim and forbidding in appearance) · sv sträng (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · az tündxasiyyət (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · de düster (grim and forbidding in appearance) · sv hård (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · de abweisend (grim and forbidding in appearance) · pl surowy (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · mi taikaha (grim and forbidding in appearance) · bg твърд (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · pt sério (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sh snažan (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · hu zord (grim and forbidding in appearance) · es adusto (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · bg недружелю́бен (grim and forbidding in appearance) · cs přísný (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · fr austère (grim and forbidding in appearance) · tr haşin (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · de ernst (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · bg строг (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · de hart (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sv strikt (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · de gestreng (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sk prísny (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sk neúprosný (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · de unnachgiebig (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · pt austero (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · it arcigno (grim and forbidding in appearance) · cs příkrý (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · cs tvrdý (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · gd gruamach (grim and forbidding in appearance) · ca sever (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sh strogost (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · de streng (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · ru суро́вый (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · es adusto (grim and forbidding in appearance) · sv rigorös (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sv barsk (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · el βλοσυρός (grim and forbidding in appearance) · fi tyly (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · az sərt (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sh grubost (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · ru мра́чный (grim and forbidding in appearance) · it austero (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · uk суво́рий (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · fi ankara (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · hu rideg (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · ro dur (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · az tündməcaz (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · tr katı (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · ml കർക്കശ (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · hu szigorú (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · it inflessibile (grim and forbidding in appearance) · it rigido (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · tr sert (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sk neprívetivý (grim and forbidding in appearance) · pdt ieeboa (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · ar مُتَشَدِّد (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · ka სასტიკი (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · bg мра́чен (grim and forbidding in appearance) · de unfreundlich (grim and forbidding in appearance) · ml കർശന (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · cs strohý (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · eo severa (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sh čeličan (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · de bitter (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · fi tuima (grim and forbidding in appearance) · mi makiki (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · it severo (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · nl streng (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · ja 荘厳な (grim and forbidding in appearance) · mi taikaha (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · el αυστηρός (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · cs drsný (grim and forbidding in appearance) · ru стро́гий (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · ja 厳格な (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · de abschreckend (grim and forbidding in appearance) · ar صَارِم (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · bg негостоприе́мен (grim and forbidding in appearance) · bg суро́в (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · uk стро́гий (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · fi ankara (grim and forbidding in appearance) · fi kovaluontoinen (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · hy խիստ (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · sh surovost (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · eo serioza (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner) · pt rígido (having a hardness and severity of nature or manner)
Inherited from Middle English sterne, 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. The sense referring to a management post alludes to the fact that a sailing ship's captain would often stand on an aft deck.
Meanings
The rear part (after end) of a ship or other vessel.
Holonyms: watercraft < vessel
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. 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
(figuratively) The post of management or direction.
and sit chiefest stern of public weal 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
The hinder part of anything.
The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog.
And all attonce her beaſtly bodie raizd / With doubled forces high aboue the ground: / Tho wrapping vp her wrethed ſterne arownd, / Lept fierce vpon his ſhield, [...] 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 18, page 8:
uz quyruq (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · eo pobo (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nn akterspegel (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · tr pupa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nl achterschip (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ms buritan (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · lt laivagalis (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · fi perä (hinder part of anything) · io pupo (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · lg ekirumba (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · hy նավախել (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · de Heck (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ga deireadh (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ast popa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nb akterende (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · mi kei (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · mi noko (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · fi ahteri (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · sq shtreze (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · pt popa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · is skutur (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · az gəmi sarğısı (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · hi दबूसा (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ist poûpa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ru корма́ (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · vec pupa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · be карма́ (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · gv cashtal jerree (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · sh kȑma (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · el πρύμνη (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · sw tezi (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · hi पिछाड़ी (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · sw shetri (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · gv arbyl (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ko 선미 (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ar مُؤَخَّرَة (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · fi häntä (tail of an animal) · cmn 船尾 (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ota پوپا (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nb hekk (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · hi दुंबाल (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ml അമരം (figuratively: post of management or direction) · mk крма (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · mi tā (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · hu hajótat (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · kk корма (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · izh ahteri (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ang stēorsetl (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · da agterstavn (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · grc πρύμνα (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · sl krma (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · myv венчпуло (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · fr arrière (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · fi peräsin (figuratively: post of management or direction) · lv pakaļgals (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · sh кр̏ма (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · de Schiffshinterteil (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · fi perä (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nl achtersteven (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nrf tillac (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · lut ʔillaq (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · hi पिच्छल (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · sk korma (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · et ahter (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nrf poupe (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · bg кърма́ (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · pl rufa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · uk корма́ (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · cy starn (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nn hekk (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · cu кръма (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · az sarğı (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · tr kıç (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · vo pödastev (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · cmn 舳 (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ca popa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · got 𐌽𐍉𐍄𐌰 (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · fr poupe (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ml അമരം (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · vec pòpe (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · eu txopa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nb akterspeil (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ko 고물 (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nb akterstavn (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ja 艫 (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · vo pödanaf (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · fa پاشْنِه (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nn akterende (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · eo poŭpo (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · nn akterstamn (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · gl popa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · la puppis (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · it poppa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · cs záď (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · sv akter (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ja 船尾 (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · sv bakstam c poop (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · da agterende (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · tl popa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · ka კიჩო (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · hu tat (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · es popa (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · th ท้ายเรือ (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · da agterstævn (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel) · de Hinterschiff (the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel)
Inherited from Middle English sterne, 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. The sense referring to a management post alludes to the fact that a sailing ship's captain would often stand on an aft deck.
Meanings
(ambitransitive, obsolete) To steer, to direct the course of (a ship).
(ambitransitive) To propel or move backward or stern-first in the water.