Stratum \Stra"tum\, n.; pl. E. Stratums, L. Strata. The
   latter is more common. [L., from sternere, stratum, to
   spread; akin to Gr. ? to spread, strew. See Strew, and cf.
   Consternation, Estrade, Prostrate, Stratus,
   Street.]
   1. (Geol.) A bed of earth or rock of one kind, formed by
      natural causes, and consisting usually of a series of
      layers, which form a rock as it lies between beds of other
      kinds. Also used figuratively.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A bed or layer artificially made; a course.
      [1913 Webster]

	

	stratum
     n 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)
     2: an abstract place usually conceived as having depth; "a good
        actor communicates on several levels"; "a simile has at
        least two layers of meaning"; "the mind functions on many
        strata simultaneously" [syn: level, layer]
     [also: strata (pl)]

	

	83 Moby Thesaurus words for "stratum":
   Appleton layer, F layer, Heaviside-Kennelly layer, Van Allen belt,
   band, bed, bedding, belt, blood, bracket, branch, caste, category,
   chemosphere, clan, class, couche, course, deck, division, estate,
   floor, gallery, grade, group, grouping, head, heading, ionosphere,
   isothermal region, kin, label, layer, ledge, level,
   lower atmosphere, measures, order, outer atmosphere, overlayer,
   overstory, photosphere, pigeonhole, plane, position, predicament,
   race, rank, rating, rubric, seam, section, sept, set, shelf, stage,
   standing, station, status, step, story, strain, stratification,
   stratosphere, subdivision, subgroup, suborder, substratosphere,
   substratum, superstratum, table, thickness, tier, title, topsoil,
   tropopause, troposphere, underlayer, understory, understratum,
   upper atmosphere, vein, zone