Stem vs Bow - What's the difference?

In nautical terms the difference between stem and bow

is that stem is the vertical or nearly vertical forward extension of the keel, to which the forward ends of the planks or strakes are attached while bow is the front of a boat or ship.

As nouns the difference between stem and bow

is that stem is the stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors while bow is a weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.

As verbs the difference between stem and bow

is that stem is to remove the stem from while bow is to play music on (a stringed instrument) using a bow.

stem

English

(wikipedia stem)

Etymology 1

(etyl) stemn, .

Noun

(en noun)

The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors.

* Milton

all that are of noble stem

* Herbert

While I do pray, learn here thy stem / And true descent.

A branch of a family.

* Shakespeare

This is a stem / Of that victorious stock.

An advanced or leading position; the lookout.

* Fuller

Wolsey sat at the stem more than twenty years.

(botany) The above-ground stalk (technically axis) of a vascular plant, and certain anatomically similar, below-ground organs such as rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, and corms.

* Sir Walter Raleigh

After they are shot up thirty feet in length, they spread a very large top, having no bough nor twig in the trunk or the stem .

A slender supporting member of an individual part of a plant such as a flower or a leaf; also, by analogy, the shaft of a feather.

the stem of an apple or a cherry

A narrow part on certain man-made objects, such as a wine glass, a tobacco pipe, a spoon.

(linguistic morphology) The main part of an uninflected]] word to which affixes may be added to form inflections of the word. A stem often has a more fundamental root. Systematic conjugations and [[declension, declensions derive from their stems.

(typography) A vertical stroke of a letter.

(music) A vertical stroke of a symbol representing a note in written music.

(nautical) The vertical or nearly vertical forward extension of the keel, to which the forward ends of the planks or strakes are attached.

Derived terms

* brain stem * from stem to stern * stem cell * stemless * stemplot * unstemmed

Verb

(stemm)

To remove the stem from.

to stem''' cherries; to '''stem tobacco leaves

To be caused]] or [[derive, derived; to originate.

The current crisis stems from the short-sighted politics of the previous government.

To descend in a family line.

To direct the stem (of a ship) against; to make headway against.

(obsolete) To hit with the stem of a ship; to ram.

* 1596 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , IV.ii:

As when two warlike Brigandines at sea, / With murdrous weapons arm'd to cruell fight, / Doe meete together on the watry lea, / They stemme ech other with so fell despight, / That with the shocke of their owne heedlesse might, / Their wooden ribs are shaken nigh a sonder

To ram (clay, etc.) into a blasting hole.

Etymology 2

From (etyl) . Cognate with German stemmen, Dutch stemmen, stempen; compare (stammer).

Verb

(stemm)

To stop, hinder (for instance, a river or blood).

to stem a tide

* Denham

[They] stem the flood with their erected breasts.

* Alexander Pope

Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age.

(skiing) To move the feet apart and point the tips of the skis inward in order to slow down the speed or to facilitate a turn.

Synonyms

* (sense) to be due to, to arise from * See also

Etymology 3

Noun

(en noun)

External links

* * *

Anagrams

* ----

bow

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) boga, from (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)

A weapon made of a curved piece of wood or other flexible material whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows.

A curved bend in a rod or planar surface, or in a linear formation such as a river (see oxbow ).

A rod with horsehair (or an artificial substitute) stretched between the ends, used for playing various stringed musical instruments.

A stringed instrument, similar to the item described above.

A type of knot with two loops, used to tie together two cords such as shoelaces or apron strings, and frequently used as decoration, such as in gift-wrapping.

Anything bent or curved, such as a rainbow.

* Bible, Genesis ix. 13

I do set my bow in the cloud.

The U-shaped piece which goes around the neck of an ox and fastens it to the yoke.

Any instrument consisting of an elastic rod, with ends connected by a string, employed for giving reciprocating motion to a drill, or for preparing and arranging hair, fur, etc., used by hatters.

(nautical) A crude sort of quadrant formerly used for taking the sun's altitude at sea.

(saddlery) Two pieces of wood which form the arched forward part of a saddletree.

Synonyms

* (bow-shaped bend) arc, bend, curve * (tool for playing stringed instruments) fiddlestick

Derived terms

* bow and arrow * bowman * bowmanship * composite bow * compound bow * crossbow * longbow * oxbow * rainbow * shortbow * bow tie

Verb

(en verb)

To play music on (a stringed instrument) using a bow.

The musician bowed his violin expertly.

To become bent or curved.

The shelf bowed under the weight of the books.

To make something bend or curve.

* Milton

We bow things the contrary way, to make them come to their natural straightness.

* Prescott

The whole nation bowed their necks to the worst kind of tyranny.

(figurative) To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline.

* Francis Bacon

Adversities do more bow men's minds to religion.

* Fuller

not to bow and bias their opinions

To premiere.

Cronenberg’s "Cosmopolis" bows in Cannes this week.

Etymology 2

From (etyl) . Cognate with Dutch buigen, German biegen, Danish bue.

Verb

(en verb)

To bend oneself as a gesture of respect or deference.

* 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

The soldier now blew upon a green whistle, and at once a young girl, dressed in a pretty green silk gown, entered the room. She had lovely green hair and green eyes, and she bowed low before Dorothy as she said, "Follow me and I will show you your room."

* , chapter=4

, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.}}

(transitive, and, intransitive) To debut.

* 2010 (publication date), Kara Krekeler, "Rebuilding the opera house", West End Word , volume 39, number 26, December 22, 2010 – January 11, 2011, page 1:

SCP recently announced that How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical will bow on the newly renovated stage next December.

To defer (to something).

Derived terms

* bow down * bow out * bow and scrape * take a bow

Noun

(en noun)

A gesture, usually showing respect, made by inclining the head or bending forward at the waist.

He bowed politely as he entered the room.

A debut

The new product will make its bow on the world market this summer.

* {{quote-journal, 1832, , Literary Notices, The Rail-Road Journal citation

, passage=The first named one, it will be observed, is but a debutant. It makes its bow in a drab-colored Quaker-looking dress, and barring a lively McGrawler-like critique upon " Lewis' Poems," is staid and professorial in its tone.}}

Etymology 3

From (etyl) boech or (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)

(nautical) The front of a boat or ship.

* {{quote-book, year=1907, author=

, title=The Dust of Conflict , chapter=6 citation , passage=The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board her desired when the schooner Ventura headed for the land. It rose in places, black and sharp against the velvety indigo, over her dipping bow , though most of the low littoral was wrapped in obscurity.}}

Synonyms

* (of a ship) prow

Antonyms

* (of a ship) poop, stern

Derived terms

* bow shock * bow rudder

Anagrams

* English heteronyms English terms with multiple etymologies