What is a word stem?

Answer 1

It is the base part of a word that has prefixes or suffixes. For instance, the word:

decentralization

base: Centralize

prefix: de-

suffix: -tion

necessity

base: necessary

suffix: -ity

Answer 2

A word stem is the base or root form of a word to which affixes can be added. It contains the core meaning of the word and can be combined with prefixes or suffixes to create different forms of the word. For example, "play" is the word stem in words like "played" or "playing".