Stämmen

Stämmen is a Swedish noun that appears as the definite singular form of stam and is used in two related but distinct senses. In botany, it denotes the trunk or main stem of a plant or tree—the sturdy vertical axis that supports branches and leaves. In social and historical contexts, stam can refer to a tribe or clan, i.e., a lineage or kin-based social group, though this sense is more common in ethnographic writing and historical texts.

In practice, the same word can shift meaning based on context. Common botanical compounds use stam-related forms such as stamträd (family tree) or stamhistorik, while in historical descriptions one may encounter references to different stammar or tribes in a region. In modern Swedish, everyday language more often specifies the sense through additional words or phrasing, for example by naming the plant species when talking about the trunk, or by using terms like tribe or clan when discussing social groups.

Etymology traces stam to older Germanic roots and is cognate with English stem. The word has a long history in Swedish, appearing in both scientific terminology and historical writing. Related terms include stammfader (progenitor), stamfråga (issue at stake), and stamträd (family tree), which illustrate the versatility of stam in forming compound terms.

See also: stem, trunk, tribe, clan, family tree, progenitor.