stemma

noun

stem·​ma ˈste-mə How to pronounce stemma (audio)
plural stemmata ˈste-mə-tə How to pronounce stemma (audio)
1
: a simple eye present in some insects
2
: a scroll (as among the ancient Romans) containing a genealogical list
3
: a tree showing the relationships of the manuscripts of a literary work
stemmatic adjective

Examples of stemma in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
According to their stemma records, 15 of the CAO clans claimed to be descendants of Emperor CAO. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 28 Dec. 2011 Her discipline of philology, the study of the development of texts over time, requires comparing manuscripts to each other, building a stemma, or genealogy of texts, from a parent or original manuscript. David M. Perry, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Mar. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Latin, wreath, pedigree (from the wreaths placed on ancestral images), from Greek, wreath, from stephein to crown, enwreathe

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of stemma was in 1826

Dictionary Entries Near stemma

Cite this Entry

“Stemma.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stemma. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.

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