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35,981 English word records · 45,491 etymology sections in this online subset
PARTIAL ENGLISH COVERAGE · FULL CORPUS REMAINS LOCAL4 source sections across 2 headwords matching “Stern”. These are separate from the reviewed results below.
SternEnglish (en) · Unnumbered etymologySource text
* As a German and Jewish surname, from the noun Stern (“star”). This was also borrowed into various Slavic languages such as Serbo-Crotian and Slovenian. * As an English surname, from the adjective stern.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗sternEnglish (en) · Etymology 1Source text
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”).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗sternEnglish (en) · Etymology 2Source text
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.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗sternEnglish (en) · Etymology 3Source text
From a variant of tern.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗INDEPENDENT SOURCE LIBRARY
More sources for this spelling
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Chambers (1908)
1908- SternEnglish · e-38700-3141
Stern, stėrn, adj. severe of countenance, manner, or feeling: austere: harsh: unrelenting: steadfast.—adv. Stern′ly.—n. Stern′ness. [A.S. styrne.]
Read the full source record → - SternEnglish · e-38700-3142
Stern, stėrn, n. the hind-part of a vessel: the rump or tail of an animal.—v.t. to back a boat, to row backward.—ns. Stern′age (Shak.), the steerage or stern of a ship; Stern′board, backward motion of a ship: loss of way
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