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stern1 definition

stern (stʉrn)

adjective

  1. hard; severe; unyielding; strict stern measures
  2. grim; forbidding a stern face
  3. relentless; inexorable stern reality
  4. unshakable; firm stern determination

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

Related Forms:

stern2 definition

stern (stʉrn)

noun

  1. the rear end of a ship or boat
  2. the rear end of anything

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

Stern definition

Stern (stʉrn)

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

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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