stream
n. countablen. a continuous flow of data, like video or music, that you can watch or listen to on the internet without downloading the whole file first.
n. a continuous transmission of digital data, such as audio or video, from a server to a client in real time.
I watched a live stream of the concert.
The platform offers a high-quality video stream for subscribers who want to watch the game live.
Engineers had to optimize the data compression algorithm to maintain a stable, high-definition stream even for users with slower internet connections.
From Middle English streem, strem, from Old English strēam, from Proto-West Germanic straum, from Proto-Germanic straumaz (“stream”), from Proto-Indo-European srowmos (“river”), from Proto-Indo-European srew- (“to flow”). Doublet of rheum. Cognate with Scots strem, streme, streym (“stream, river”), North Frisian Stroom, struum (“stream”), West Frisian stream (“stream”), Low German Stroom (“stream”), Dutch stroom (“current, flow, stream”), German Strom (“current, stream”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål strøm (“current, stream, flow”), Norwegian Nynorsk straum (“current, stream, flow”), Swedish ström (“current, stream, flow”), Faroese streymur (“stream”), Icelandic straumur (“current, stream, torrent, flood”), Ancient Greek ῥεῦμα (rheûma, “stream, flow”), Lithuanian srovė (“current, stream”) Polish strumień (“stream”), Welsh ffrwd (“stream, current”), Scottish Gaelic sruth (“stream”).
Often used in compounds like 'live stream' or 'data stream', or with verbs like 'watch', 'start', or 'join'.