stem

(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed

• “thematic vowels are part of the stem”

a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ

cylinder forming a long narrow part of something

the tube of a tobacco pipe

front part of a vessel or aircraft

• “he pointed the bow of the boat toward the finish line”

a turn made in skiing; the back of one ski is forced outward and the other ski is brought parallel to it

grow out of, have roots in, originate in

• “The increase in the national debt stems from the last war”

cause to point inward

• “stem your skis”

stop the flow of a liquid

• “staunch the blood flow”
• “them the tide”

remove the stem from

• “for automatic natural language processing, the words must be stemmed”