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WordStem["word"]

gives a stemmed form of word, removing plurals, inflections, etc.

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Applications  
Possible Issues  
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WordStem

WordStem["word"]

gives a stemmed form of word, removing plurals, inflections, etc.

Details

  • WordStem may not always yield full words.
  • WordStem uses the Porter stemming algorithm.
  • WordStem preserves punctuation of words.

Examples

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Basic Examples  (2)

Find the stemmed form of a word:

Wolfram Language code: WordStem["dogs"]

Stem a list of words:

Wolfram Language code: WordStem[{"dogs", "cats", "crying", "running"}]

Word stemming preserves case:

Wolfram Language code: WordStem["DOGS"]

Scope  (1)

WordStem automatically threads over lists:

Wolfram Language code: WordStem[{"dogs", "cats", "crying", "running"}]

Applications  (2)

Find the most commonly occurring stem words in a piece of text:

Wolfram Language code: Take[SortBy[Tally[WordStem[ToLowerCase[StringSplit[ResourceData["The Arrow of Gold"], WhitespaceCharacter]]]], Last], -20]

Construct the stemmed forms of random English words and find which of them are recognized dictionary words:

Wolfram Language code: Short[words = RandomWord[30]]
Wolfram Language code: Short[wordstems = WordStem[words]]

Remove the words that are identical to their stemmed forms:

Wolfram Language code: list = DeleteCases[Transpose[{words, wordstems}], {w_, w_}];

Emphasize in blue the stemmed forms that are recognized English dictionary words:

Wolfram Language code: list = Replace[list, {w_, sw_ ? DictionaryWordQ} :> {w, Style[sw, Blue]}, {1}]

Visualize each pair in a text grid:

Wolfram Language code: TextGrid[Prepend[Partition[Flatten@list, UpTo[4]], {Style["Word", Bold, Italic], Style["Stemmed Form", Bold, Italic], Style["Word", Bold, Italic], Style["Stemmed Form", Bold, Italic]}], Spacings -> {2, 1}, Dividers -> {{1 -> True, 3 -> True, 5 -> True}, {1 -> True, 2 -> True, -1 -> True}}]

Possible Issues  (1)

WordStem does not always return a proper English word:

Wolfram Language code: WordStem["irritating"]
Wolfram Language code: WordStem["apples"]
Wolfram Research (2015), WordStem, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WordStem.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (2015), WordStem, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WordStem.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2015. "WordStem." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WordStem.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2015). WordStem. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WordStem.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_wordstem, author="Wolfram Research", title="{WordStem}", year="2015", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WordStem.html}", note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_wordstem, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={WordStem}, year={2015}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/WordStem.html}, note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}