before vowels sten-, word-forming element meaning "narrow," from Greek stenos "narrow, strait," as a noun "straits of the sea, narrow strip of land," also metaphorically, "close, confined; scanty, petty," from PIE *sten- "narrow."
stem
stem-winder
Sten
stench
stencil
steno-
stenographer
stenography
stenosis
stent
stentorian