From Old English 'stemn' (trunk, prow), from Proto-Germanic *stamniz — the linguistic sense borrows the botanical metaphor.
The main body of a plant; the root form of a word.
From Old English 'stemn' or 'stefn' meaning 'stem, trunk of a tree, prow of a ship,' from Proto-Germanic *stamniz. The linguistic sense (word stem) is a metaphor from botany — the part from which branches grow. Key roots: *stamniz (Proto-Germanic: "trunk, stem").