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stem (v.2)[stem 词源字典]: "make headway by sailing, head in a certain course," late 14c., literally "to push the stem through," from stem (n.) in the "ship post" sense (here the post at the prow of the ship). Related: Stemmed; stemming.[stem etymology, stem origin, 英语词源]
stem-winder (n.): "excellent thing" (especially a rousing speech), 1892, from stem-winding watches (1875), which were advanced and desirable when introduced. See stem (n.) + wind (v.1).
Sten (n.): type of light, rapid-fire submachine gun, 1942, from initials of surnames of designers R.V. Shepherd and H.J. Turpin + En(field); compare Bren.
stench (n.): Old English stenc "a smell, odor, scent, fragrance" (either pleasant or unpleasant), from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz (cognates: Old Saxon stanc, Old High German stanch, German stank). Related to stincan "emit a smell" (see stink (v.)) as drench is to drink. It tended toward "bad smell" in Old English (as a verb, only with this sense), and the notion of "evil smell" has predominated since c. 1200.
stencil (n.): 1707, not recorded again until 1848, probably from Middle English stencellen "decorate with bright colors," from Middle French estenceler "cover with sparkles or stars, powder with color," from estencele "spark, spangle" (Modern French étincelle), from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, metathesis of Latin scintilla "spark" (see scintilla).
stencil (v.): "to produce a design with a stencil," 1861, from stencil (n.). Related: Stenciled; stenciling (1781 as a verbal noun).
steno-: before vowels sten-, word-forming element meaning "narrow," from comb. form of Greek stenos "narrow, strait," as a noun "straits of the sea, narrow strip of land," also metaphorically, "close, confined; scanty, petty," from PIE *sten- "narrow."
stenographer (n.): 1796, agent noun formation from stenography.
stenography (n.): "shorthand," c. 1600, from steno- "narrow" + -graphy. Related: Stenographic; stenographical.
stenosis (n.): 1846, medical Latin, from Greek stenosis "narrowing," from stenoun "to narrow," from stenos "narrow" (see steno-) + -osis.
stent (n.): "tube implanted temporarily," 1964, named for Charles T. Stent (1807-1885), English dentist.
stentorian (adj.): "of powerful voice," c. 1600, from Stentor, legendary Greek herald in the Trojan War, whose voice (described in the "Iliad") was as loud as 50 men. His name is from Greek stenein "groan, moan," from PIE imitative root *(s)ten-, source of Old English þunor "thunder."
step (v.): Old English steppan (Anglian), stæppan (West Saxon) "take a step," from West Germanic *stap- "tread" (cognates: Old Frisian stapa, Middle Dutch, Dutch stappen, Old High German stapfon, German stapfen "step"), from PIE root *stebh- "post, stem; to support, place firmly on" (see staff (n.); cognates: Old Church Slavonic stopa "step, pace," stepeni "step, degree"). The notion is perhaps "a treading firmly on; a foothold."

Transitive sense (as in step foot in) attested from 1530s. Related: Stepped; stepping. Originally strong (past tense stop, past participle bestapen); weak forms emerged 13c., universal from 16c. To step out "leave for a short time" is from 1530s; meaning "to go out in public in style" is from 1907. Step on it "hurry up" is 1923, from notion of gas pedal.
step (n.): Old English steppa (Mercian), stæpe, stepe (West Saxon) "stair, act of stepping," from the source of step (v.). Compare Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch stap, Old High German stapfo, German Stapfe "footstep"). From late Old English as "degree on a scale." Figurative meaning "action which leads toward a result" is recorded from 1540s. In dancing, from 1670s. Meaning "type of military pace" is from 1798. Warning phrase watch your step is attested from 1911. Step by step indicating steady progression is from 1580s. To follow in (someone's) steps is from mid-13c.
step-: Old English steop-, with connotations of "loss," in combinations like steopcild "orphan," related to astiepan, bestiepan "to bereave, to deprive of parents or children," from Proto-Germanic *steupa- "bereft" (cognates: Old Frisian stiap-, Old Norse stjup-, Swedish styv-, Middle Low German stef-, Dutch stief-, Old High German stiof-, German stief-), literally "pushed out," from PIE *steup-, from root *(s)teu- (1) "to push, stick, knock," with derivatives referring to fragments (see steep (adj.)). Barnhart suggests the forms in -f- are by assimilation of the first sound in following words for "father."

Etymologically, a stepfather or stepmother is one who becomes father or mother to an orphan, but the notion of orphanage faded in 20c. and came to denote simply relation through marriage. For sense evolution, compare Latin privignus "stepson," related to privus "deprived." Compare orphan (n.).
step-dance (n.): one in which the steps are more important than the figure, especially one with difficult steps, 1857, from step (n.) + dance (n.). Related: Step-dancing (1872).
step-daughter (n.): Old English stepdohtor; see step- + daughter (n.). Similar formation in German Stieftochter.
step-ladder (n.): also stepladder, one with flat steps instead of rungs, 1728, from step (n.) + ladder.
step-sister (n.): also stepsister, mid-15c., from step- + sister (n.).
step-son (n.): also stepson, Old English steopsunu; see step- + son.