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stratum

noun

Simple meaning

One of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

stratuhm

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈstɹætəm

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. One of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock)

  2. geology

    A layer of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout.

  3. People having the same social, economic, or educational status

  4. A class of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status.

  5. Any of the regions of the atmosphere, such as the stratosphere, that occur as layers.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: One of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock)

Used this way, stratum is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Science
  • Academic writing
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Several / layer

stratum corneum

Class

social stratum

Accuracy

thin stratum

Other combinations

upper stratumlower stratummiddle stratumbearing stratumstratum iii

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • stratum basalenounCompound term

    The innermost layer of the epidermis.

  • stratum corneumnounCompound term

    The outermost layer of the epidermis consisting of dead cells that slough off.

  • stratum germinativumnounCompound term

    The innermost layer of the epidermis.

  • stratum granulosumnounCompound term

    The layer of epidermis just under the stratum corneum or (on the palms and soles) just under the stratum lucidum.

  • stratum lucidumnounCompound term

    The layer of epidermis immediately under the stratum corneum in the skin of the palms and soles.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.