stream

English Online Dictionary. What means stream‎? What does stream mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English streem, strem, from Old English strēam, from Proto-West Germanic *straum, from Proto-Germanic *straumaz (“stream”), from Proto-Indo-European *srowmos (“river”), from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (“to flow”). Doublet of rheum.

Cognate with Scots strem, streme, streym (“stream, river”), North Frisian strum (“stream”), West Frisian stream (“stream”), Low German Stroom (“stream”), Dutch stroom (“current, flow, stream”), German Strom (“current, stream”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål strøm (“current, stream, flow”), Norwegian Nynorsk straum (“current, stream, flow”), Swedish ström (“current, stream, flow”), Icelandic straumur (“current, stream, torrent, flood”), Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, flow”), Lithuanian srovė (“current, stream”) Polish strumień (“stream”), Welsh ffrwd (“stream, current”), Scottish Gaelic sruth (“stream”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: strēm, IPA^(key): /stɹiːm/
• Rhymes: -iːm

Noun

stream (plural streams)

1. A small river; a large creek; a body of moving water confined by banks.
2. (sciences, umbrella term) All moving waters.
3. A thin connected passing of a liquid through a lighter gas (e.g. air).

4. Current, the force of moving water.

5. Any steady flow or succession of material, such as water, air, radio signal or words.
6. (figurative) A particular path, channel, division, or way of proceeding.

7. (computing) A source or repository of data that can be read or written only sequentially.

8. Digital data (e.g. music or video) delivered in a continuous manner to a client computer, intended for immediate consumption or playback.
   1. An instance of streaming digital data.
   2. A live stream.
9. (UK, education) A division of a school year by perceived ability.

10. A train of thought or flow in a conversation or discussion.

Synonyms

• (small river): beck, brook, burn

Hyponyms

• (small river): rill
• (moving water): river

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

stream (third-person singular simple present streams, present participle streaming, simple past and past participle streamed)

1. (intransitive) To flow in a continuous or steady manner, like a liquid.
2. (intransitive) To extend; to stretch out with a wavy motion; to float in the wind.

3. (transitive) To discharge in a stream.

4. (Internet) To push continuous data (e.g. music) from a server to a client computer while it is being used (played) on the client.
5. (Internet) To livestream.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• “stream”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “stream”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “stream”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “stream”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.

Anagrams

• Stamer, ramset, metras, matres, mastre, maters, armets, armest, termas, tamers, trémas, remast, Tamers, ramets, Master, 'maters, master, METARs, tremas, Amster

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English stream.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /striːm/
• Hyphenation: stream

Noun

stream m (plural streams)

1. (computing, Internet) a stream

Related terms

• livestream
• streamen

French

Pronunciation

Noun

stream m (plural streams)

1. (Internet) stream

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *straum.

Germanic cognates include Old Frisian strām, Old Saxon strōm, Old High German stroum, Old Norse straumr. Extra-Germanic cognates include Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma), Polish strumień, Albanian rrymë (“flow, current”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stræ͜ɑːm/

Noun

strēam m

1. stream
   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

2. current

Declension

Strong a-stem:

Derived terms

• ēagorstrēam
• lagustrēam

Descendants

• Middle English: strem, streem
  • English: stream
  • Scots: streme, streim

See also

• ēa (“river”)
• gārseċġ (“ocean”)
• mere (“lake”)
• sǣ (“sea”)

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English stream. First attested in 1993.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstrim/
• Rhymes: -im
• Syllabification: stream

Noun

stream m inan

1. (Internet) stream, live stream

Declension

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• stream in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• stream at Obserwatorium językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English stream.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɾim/ [ˈst̪ɾĩm]
  • Rhymes: -im
• IPA^(key): (adapted) /esˈtɾim/ [esˈt̪ɾĩm]
  • Rhymes: -im

Noun

stream m (plural streams)

1. (computing) stream

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

West Frisian

Etymology 1

From Old Frisian strām, from Proto-West Germanic *straum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /strɪə̯m/

Noun

stream c (plural streamen, diminutive streamke)

1. river

   Synonym: rivier

2. stream (of fluids), flow
3. electric current

Derived terms

• streame

Further reading

• “stream”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English stream.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /striːm/

Noun

stream c (plural streams, diminutive streamke)

1. stream