stopniami

Stopniami is the instrumental plural form of the Polish noun stopień, meaning degree, level, stair, or rank. As a grammatical form, stopniami is used when stopień functions in the instrumental case, typically to indicate means, manner, or a context involving a scale or sequence.

Meanings and usage

Stopień has several related senses: a unit of measurement such as temperature or angle (degrees), a level or rank within a hierarchy, and a step in a process or progression. The plural stopnie refers to multiple degrees or steps in the nominative, while stopni serves as the genitive plural form in many numerical expressions (for example, twenty degrees). Stopniach (locative plural) and stopniami (instrumental plural) are used in other grammatical contexts, with stopniami appearing in phrases where the noun acts as an instrumental or is part of a construction describing a method, scale, or degree-based context.

Etymology

The word stopień derives from a Proto-Slavic root associated with stepping or levels and has cognates in related Slavic languages. The form stopniami reflects standard Polish inflection for instrumental plural of stopień.

Related concepts

Beyond its literal senses, stopień also appears in discussions of gradation or degrees in grammar (stopniowanie przymiotników) and in technical contexts where measurements or levels are described on a scale.

See also

Stopień (język polski), stopniowanie, degree (temperature/angle) terminology.