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stern

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The definition of stern is someone who is very serious or strict.

(adjective)

An example of stern is a teacher when he is scolding a student.

See stern in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective

hard; severe; unyielding; strict: stern measures
grim; forbidding: a stern face
relentless; inexorable: stern reality
unshakable; firm: stern determination

Origin: ME sterne < OE styrne < IE base *ster-, stiff, rigid > stare, starve

Related Forms:

sternly adverb
sternness noun

noun

the rear end of a ship or boat
the rear end of anything

Origin: ME steorne, stern, rudder < ON stjorn, steering < styra, to steer

Stern, Isaac 1920-2001; U.S. violinist, born in Russia
Stern, Otto 1888-1969; U.S. physicist, born in Germany

See stern in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective stern·er, stern·est

Hard, harsh, or severe in manner or character: a stern disciplinarian. See Synonyms at severe.
Grim, gloomy, or forbidding in appearance or outlook.
Firm or unyielding; uncompromising.
Inexorable; relentless: stern necessity.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English sterne

Origin: , from Old English styrne; see ster-¹ in Indo-European roots

Related Forms:

sternˈly adverb

sternˈness noun

noun

Nautical The rear part of a ship or boat.
A rear part or section.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English sterne

Origin: , perhaps of Scandinavian origin

Origin: ; akin to Old Norse stjōrn, rudder; see stā- in Indo-European roots

Russian-born American violinist who is considered among the great 20th-century virtuosos.

, Otto 1888-1969.

German-born American physicist. He won a 1943 Nobel Prize for detecting the magnetic movements of atomic particles.

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