stream

Meaning

Noun

1. A small river; a large creek; a body of moving water confined by banks.
2. A thin connected passing of a liquid through a lighter gas (e.g. air).
3. Any steady flow or succession of material, such as water, air, radio signal or words.
4. All moving waters.
5. A particular path, channel, division, or way of proceeding.
6. A source or repository of data that can be read or written only sequentially.
7. Digital data (e.g. music or video) delivered in a continuous manner to a client computer, intended for immediate consumption or playback.
8. Digital data (e.g. music or video) delivered in a continuous manner to a client computer, intended for immediate consumption or playback.
9. A division of a school year by perceived ability.

Verb

1. To flow in a continuous or steady manner, like a liquid.
2. To extend; to stretch out with a wavy motion; to float in the wind.
3. To discharge in a stream.
4. To push continuous data (e.g. music) from a server to a client computer while it is being used (played) on the client.
5. To livestream.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/stɹiːm/

Etymology

From Middle English streem, strem, from Old English strēam, from Proto-West Germanic *straum, from Proto-Germanic *straumaz (“stream”), from Proto-Indo-European *srowmos (“river”), from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (“to flow”). Doublet of rheum.
Cognate with Scots strem, streme, streym (“stream, river”), North Frisian strum (“stream”), West Frisian stream (“stream”), Low German Stroom (“stream”), Dutch stroom (“current, flow, stream”), German Strom (“current, stream”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål strøm (“current, stream, flow”), Norwegian Nynorsk straum (“current, stream, flow”), Swedish ström (“current, stream, flow”), Icelandic straumur (“current, stream, torrent, flood”), Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, flow”), Lithuanian srovė (“current, stream”) Polish strumień (“stream”), Welsh ffrwd (“stream, current”), Scottish Gaelic sruth (“stream”).