Etymologically
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stream

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /striːm/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English streme, strem,[2][3] inherited from Old English strēam (“a course of water”),[4][5] from Proto-Germanic *strauma-,[4][6] the source also of Old Saxon strōm, Old Norse straumr, Dutch stroom and German Strom “current, river”,[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *sreu- (“to flow”),[4][5][2] the source also of Greek rheîn “to flow”, Old Irish sruaimm “river”, Lithuanian sravėti “to trickle” and Sanskrit srávati “it flows”.[5][6][3] Boutkan notes that the Germanic insertion of -t- in the cluster *sr is automatic, as in Old English swester “sister”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A course of water forming a river or brook: Old English before 850, according to Barnhart;[5] about 875 in the OED.[7]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle English it was sometimes also the ocean or a navigable channel of it.[4] “Anything issuing from a source and flowing continuously” is from the early 12th century.[4] A steady current in the sea, as in the Gulf Stream, and in a river, are from the late 14th century.[4][7] The general sense, a continued course of anything moving in one direction, is by the 1580s.[4] Stream of consciousness is recorded in psychology in 1855 and in literary criticism by 1930,[4] and stream of thought in psychology from 1890.[4] The verb, “to flow copiously”, is from the early 13th century, probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle;[4][5] of light it is from the late 14th century, of flags from the 1550s and of hair from 1731.[4] A streamer, a flag floating in the air, is from 1292,[5] and streamline from 1898.[5]

Timeline

  • a. 850 – a river or brook.[5]
  • early 12th century – anything flowing.[4]
  • early 13th century – verb, to flow.[4]
  • late 14th century – a current in the sea.[4]
  • 1580s – a continued course.[4]
  • 1855 – stream of consciousness.[4]
  • 1898 – streamline.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A flow of water in a channel, such as a brook or small river.
  2. A steady current of water, air or other fluid.
  3. A steady flow or succession: a stream of visitors.
  4. A trend or drift, as of opinion: the mainstream.
  5. (chiefly British) A group of pupils of similar ability taught together.

Verb

  1. To flow in or as if in a stream.
  2. To pour forth; to give off a stream: eyes streaming with tears.
  3. To come or go in large numbers: fans streamed out.
  4. To float or wave outward, as hair or a flag.
  5. To transmit or receive audio or video continuously over the Internet.

Word family

  • streamy
  • streamless
  • streamlike
  • bloodstream
  • headstream
  • interstream
  • mainstream
  • millstream
  • streamer
  • streamline

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press