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Definition of "stemma" [‖Stem•ma]

  • A scroll recording the genealogy of an ancient Roman family; a family tree. (noun)
  • The genealogy of the manuscripts of a literary work. (noun)
  • A small, circular, simple eye present in various insect larvae. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "stemma" in a sentence
  • "A carved "stemma," or coat of arms, over a side-door was all the parsonage had to show, and no trace of the fresco was anywhere discernible."
  • "(Left: Canon Missae with the Arms of Pius IX; Right: Dalmatic with Barque of Peter, Papal Arms and personal papal arms of Pius XII woven into the fabric) (The stemma of Pope Urban VIII embroidered onto the chasuble, with the distinctive element of his arms woven into the fabric)"
  • "Mrs Caterpillar slithered closer to the door, peeping through the peephole with her stemma."
Words like "stemma"