stern (noun) /stɝn/
1
(nautical) The rear part or after end of a ship or vessel.
2
(figurative) The post of management or direction.
3
The hinder part of anything.
4
The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog.
5
A bird, the black tern.
stern (verb) /stɝn/
1
(transitive, intransitive, nautical) To propel or move backward or stern-first in the water.
stern (adjective) /stɝn/
1
Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
2
Grim and forbidding in appearance.