stern

Meaning

Adj

1. Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
2. Grim and forbidding in appearance.

Noun

1. The rear part (after end) of a ship or other vessel.
2. (figuratively) The post of management or direction.
3. The hinder part of anything.
4. The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog.

Verb

1. (ambitransitive, obsolete) To steer, to direct the course of (a ship).
2. (ambitransitive) To propel or move backward or stern-first in the water.

Noun

A bird, the black tern.

Opposite of

bow, stem, forestem, fore, prow, prore

Synonyms

severe

strict

harsh

austere

grim

poop

💩

serious

rigorous

rear

tail

hard

stringent

fanny

buttocks

ass

🍑

tooshie

arse

butt

stark

backside

tush

tail end

nates

keister

bum

buns

tense

hindquarters

bottom

rear end

derriere

grave

🪦

rump

hind end

behind

solemn

seat

💺

poopdeck

posterior

inexorable

prat

sharp

fundament

can

firm

tough

stiff

back

🔙

strained

exacting

Translations

poupe

💩

popa

poppa

achtersteven

severo

Heck

popa

streng

sévère

severo

popa

sedere

🪑

postérieur

spiegel

🪞

Pronounced as (IPA)

/stɜːn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: stern

Inherited from Old English: styrne

Cognate with Scots: stern

Cognate with Old High German: stornēn

Cognate with Dutch: stuurs

Cognate with Swedish: stursk

In summary

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”).