Also 1 stemn, 4 stemme, stempne. [OE. stemn str. masc., var. of stefn STEVEN sb.2]
† 1. A fixed time; a period of time; a turn, vicissitude. Obs. Cf. STEVEN sb.2
O. E. Chron., an. 894. Hie hæfdon þa heora stemn ʓesetenne,… & wæs se cyng þa þiderweardes on fære.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11225. Wel moght he ger witvten stemme, Maiden ber barn wit-vten wemme.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 439. He deled þe tymes and stempnes of þe myȝtes among companyes of strompettes. Ibid., IV. 29. Þey tweyne regnede by stempnes. Ibid. (1398), Barth. De P. R., II. i. (1495), 28. In that he is a creature he hath stemnes of chaungynge. Ibid. They ben not chaunged by dedely stempnes, nother they haue contraryousnesse of passybylite.
2. Mining. (See quots.)
1778. Pryce, Min. Cornub., 179. Sometimes they are necessitated to work considerably longer than their stated hours; and then they are said to make a stem, or part of a stem, or to work a stem out of core.
1778. Pennant, Tour Wales (1883), I. 65. The laborers worked by stems, relieving each other at stated times.
1868. Tregellas’ Cornish Tales, 191. Gloss., Stem, day’s work.
1896. Daily News, 10 Feb., 3/6. Newport…. Stems are numerous at this and the adjoining ports.
attrib. a. 1863. Tregellas, Cornish Tales (1868), 17. And every stem-man lev un come.
3. Fishing. (See quots.)
1701. Brand, Descr. Orkney, etc. (1703), 151. Up the Water they cannot run, because of the larger Net, and neither down can they go, because of the Stem, or Stones laid together in form of a Wall.
1776. Act 16 Geo. III., c. 36 § 1. The six several Stems or Stations for taking Fish within the said Bay of Saint Ives.
1879. Encycl. Brit., IX. 254/1. It is divided into six stations or ‘stems,’ by marks or boundaries on the land.
