Part 783

That men may rise on stepping-stones Of their dead selves to higher things.

Tennyson.

Step"sis`ter (?), n. A daughter of one's stepfather or stepmother by a former marriage.

Step"son` (?), n. [AS. steópsunu.] A son of one's husband or wife by a former marriage.

Step"stone` (?), n. A stone laid before a door as a stair to rise on in entering the house.

-ster (?). [OE. & AS. -estre, -istre.] A suffix denoting the agent (originally a woman), especially a person who does something with skill or as an occupation; as in spinster (originally, a woman who spins), songster, baxter (= bakester), youngster.

Brewing, baking, and weaving were formerly feminine labors, and consequently brewster, baxter, and webster meant, originally, the woman (not the man) who brews, bakes, or weaves. When men began to perform these duties the feminine appellations were retained.

Ster`co*bi"lin (?), n. [L. stercus dung + E. bilin.] (Physiol. Chem.) A coloring matter found in the fæces, a product of the alteration of the bile pigments in the intestinal canal, -- identical with hydrobilirubin.

Ster"co*lin (?), n. [L. stercus dung + oleum oil.] (Physiol. Chem.) Same as Serolin (b).

Ster`co*ra"ceous (?), a. [L. stercus, -oris, dung.] Of or pertaining to dung; partaking of the nature of, or containing, dung.

Ster"co*ra*nism (?), n. (Eccl. Hist.) The doctrine or belief of the Stercoranists.

Ster"co*ra*nist (?), n. [LL. stercoranista, fr. L. stercus, -oris, dung.] (Eccl. Hist.) A nickname formerly given to those who held, or were alleged to hold, that the consecrated elements in the eucharist undergo the process of digestion in the body of the recipient.

Ster`co*ra"ri*an (?), n. A Stercoranist.

Ster"co*ra*ry (?), n. [LL. stercorarium, from L. stercorarius belonging to dung.] A place, properly secured from the weather, for containing dung.

Ster"co*rate (?), n. Excrement; dung. [Obs.]

Ster`co*ra"tion (?), n. [L. stercoratio, from stercorare to dung.] Manuring with dung. [Obs.] Bacon.

Ster*co"ri*an*ism (?), n. (Eccl.) The doctrine or belief of the Stercoranists.

Ster"co*rin (?), n. [L. stercus, -oris, dung.] (Physiol. Chem.) Same as Serolin (b).

Ster"co*ry (?), n. Excrement; dung. [Obs.]

Ster*cu`li*a"ceous (?), a. [NL. Sterculia, the typical genus, fr. L. Sterculius the deity that presided over manuring, from stercus dung. So called because one of the original species is fetid.] (Bot.) Of or pertaining to a natural order (Sterculiaceæ) of polypetalous exogenous plants, mostly tropical. The cacao (Theobroma Cacao) is the most useful plant of the order.

Stere (?), n. [F. stère, fr. Gr. &?; solid.] A unit of cubic measure in the metric system, being a cubic meter, or kiloliter, and equal to 35.3 cubic feet, or nearly 1 cubic yards.

Stere (?), v. t. & i. To stir. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Stere, n. A rudder. See 5th Steer. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Stere, n. Helmsman. See 6th Steer. [Obs.] Chaucer.

||Ster`el*min"tha (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. stereo`s solid + &?; a ||worm.] (Zoöl.) Same as Platyelminthes.

Ste"re*o- (?). [Gr. stereo`s solid. See Stare to gaze.] A combining form meaning solid, hard, firm, as in stereo-chemistry, stereography.

Ste"re*o*bate (?), n. [Gr. stereo`s solid + &?; that treads or covers, akin to &?; base; cf. F. stéréobate.] (Arch.) The lower part or basement of a building or pedestal; -- used loosely for several different forms of basement.

{ Ste`re*o-chem"ic (?), Ste`re*o-chem"ic*al (?), } a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or illustrating, the hypothetical space relations of atoms in the molecule; as, a stereo-chemic formula.