German Conversation · Level 86
59 words
German word
Stamm
Pronunciation
IPA/ʃtam/
Meaning
- masculine nountrunk
Example
Die Stämme der Bäume sind dick.
The tree trunks are thick.
More examples
Sie setzte sich auf den Stamm.
She sat down atop the trunk.
Core concept
A solid base sends out branches: a tree's trunk, a word's stem, or a family group's shared line.
Common phrases
an den Stamm lehnen
lean against the trunk
auf den Stamm klettern
climb onto the trunk
den Stamm berühren
touch the trunk
Similar words
Wortstamm: The unchanged core of a word before endings or added parts.
Baumstamm: The physical trunk of a tree.
Wurzel: The underground part that absorbs water and nutrients.
Definition in German
Der Teil eines Wortes, der die Grundbedeutung trägt und an den Flexions- oder Ableitungsendungen ansetzt; auch: Baumstamm oder Abstammung.
Word origin
Stamm is an inherited Germanic noun, recorded in Old High German as stam, whose original sense of tree trunk extended to lineage and word structure.
Usage tips
- The plural is Stämme with an umlaut, and the masculine noun takes the article der.
Other meanings
- tribenoun
- stemnoun
Related words
- Baumstammtree trunknoun
- stammenstem fromverb