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."
Entries linking to steno-
stenography n.
"shorthand," c. 1600, from steno- "narrow" + -graphy. Related: Stenographic; stenographical.
stenosis n.
1846, medical Latin, from Greek stenosis "narrowing," from stenoun "to narrow," from stenos "narrow" (see steno-) + -osis.