Dictionary

stratum en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈstɹæt.əm/ (US)
• /ˈstɹaː.təm/ (Australia)
• /ˈstɹeɪ.təm/ (US)
• /ˈstɹeɪ.təm/ (UK)
• [ˈstɹæɾ.əm] (US)
• (Southern-England) audio
• (Southern-England) audio
• [ˈstɹeɪ.ɾəm] (US)
• /ˈstɹɑː.təm/ (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin strātum (“a spread for a bed, coverlet, quilt, blanket; a pillow, bolster; a bed”), neuter singular of strātus, perfect passive participle of sternō (“spread”). Doublet of estrade and street.

Meanings

1. One of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another.
   • It is built of alternate strata of brick and clay, and the sides correspond to the direction of the meridians and parallels. 1884, Alfred Ronald Conkling, Appleton's Guide to Mexico, page 43:
   • He describes the operation thus: "The heavy ram employed to impart the finishing strokes, hoisted up with double purchase and snail's pace to the summit of the Piling Engine, and then falling down like a thunderbolt on the head of the devoted timber, driving it perhaps a single half inch in to the stratum below, is well calculated to put to the test the virtue of patience, while it illustrates the old adage of—slow and sure." 1952 July, W. R. Watson, “Sankey Viaduct and Embankment”, in Railway Magazine, page 487:
2. A layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout.
   • An illuminating article in a recent issue of the Eastern Region's Civil Engineering News points out that where coal is worked over a reasonably large area, it is not only the whole of the strata above the workings, but also an area beyond which is liable to subside at varying rates after the coal has been removed. 1961 November, “Talking of Trains: The subsidence problem”, in Trains Illustrated, page 651:
3. Any of the regions of the atmosphere, such as the stratosphere, that occur as layers.
4. A layer of tissue.
5. A class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status.
6. A layer of vegetation, usually of similar height.
7. The level of accuracy of a computer's clock, relative to others on the network.
   • Computers that synchronize themselves to the stratum 1 time servers are known as stratum 2 time servers if they allow others to synchronize to them, and so on. 2006, Roderick W. Smith, Linux Samba Server Administration:
8. A historical layer of a language.

Forms

Coordinates

seam

Deriveds

midstratum · crystallostratum · understratum · stratigraphy · stratum germinativum · stratigraphic · phylostratum · stratinomy · stratum spinosum · stratum basale · stratum griseum intermediale · stratum granulosum · lateral stratum · epistratum · adstratum · overstratum · mediostratum · stratum album intermediale · spongiostratum · stratal · superstratum · stratum lemnisci · stratarchy · stratum corneum · substratum

Relateds

stratification · stratosphere · stratify

Synonyms

bed · layer · strate · tier

Translations (77)

el στρώμα (layer of vegetation) · pt estrato (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · sv stratum (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · ba ҡатлам (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · fr couche (layer of tissue) · fi ihokerros (layer of tissue) · bg пласт (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · ja 層 (any of the regions of the atmosphere) · el στρώμα (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · pl piętro (layer of vegetation) · id strata (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · es capa (any of the regions of the atmosphere) · fi kerros (layer of vegetation) · gl estrato (layer of vegetation) · bg слой (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · io strato (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · el στρώμα (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · io strato (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · pt estrato (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · ru слой (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · fi kerros (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · fr couche (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · bg прослокйа (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · tl saray (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · es estrato (layer of tissue) · el στρώμα (layer of tissue) · es estrato (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · ba ҡатлам (layer of tissue) · ja 層 (layer of tissue) · gl estrato (layer of tissue) · sv växtskikt (layer of vegetation) · es estrato (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · ba ҡатлам (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · fi yhteiskuntaluokka (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · ca estrat (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · ca estrat (any of the regions of the atmosphere) · fr couche (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · ja 地層 (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · fi maakerros (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · am ድርብርብ (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · fr stratum (layer of tissue) · el στρώμα (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · ca estrat (layer of vegetation) · de Bank (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · ca estrat (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · ru слой (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · ca capa (any of the regions of the atmosphere) · ru слой (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · sv varv (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · gl estrato (any of the regions of the atmosphere) · ba ҡатлам (any of the regions of the atmosphere) · sv vegetationsskikt (layer of vegetation) · el στρώμα (any of the regions of the atmosphere) · ja 層 (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · ru слой (layer of tissue) · fr couche (any of the regions of the atmosphere) · ca estrat (layer of tissue) · fi kerrostuma (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · fr strate (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · fi kansankerros (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · sv samhällsskikt (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · pt estrato (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · es estamento (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · ca estrat (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · pl warstwa (layer of vegetation) · sv klass (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · gl estrato (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · gl estrato (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · ru слой (any of the regions of the atmosphere) · sv skikt (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · gl estrato (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · ja 階級 (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · is jarðlag (layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout) · bg пласт (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · fr classe (class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status) · ba ҡатлам (one of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another) · fi kerros (any of the regions of the atmosphere)