steep

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Contents

English [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

Old English stēap (high), from Proto-Germanic *staupaz (compare Old Frisian stap, Middle High German *stouf), from Proto-Indo-European *steup- (to push, stick).[1] The Proto-Indo-European root (and related) has many and varied descendants, including English stub; compare also Scots stap (to strike, to forcibly insert).

The sense of “sharp slope” is attested circa 1200; the sense “expensive” is attested US 1856.[1]

Adjective [edit]

steep (comparative steeper, superlative steepest)

  1. Of a near-vertical gradient; of a slope, surface, curve, etc. that proceeds upward at an angle near vertical.
  2. (informal) expensive
    That's a bit steep.
Translations [edit]

Etymology 2 [edit]

From Middle English stepen, from Old Norse steypa (to make stoop, cast down, pour out, cast (metal))[2][3], from Proto-Germanic *staupijanan (to tumble, make tumble, plunge), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- (to push, hit). Cognate with Danish støbe (cast (metal)), Norwegian støpe, støype, Swedish stöpa (to found, cast (metal)), Old English stūpian (to stoop, bend the back, slope). More at stoop.

Verb [edit]

steep (third-person singular simple present steeps, present participle steeping, simple past and past participle steeped)

  1. To soak an item (or to be soaked) in liquid in order to gradually add or remove components to or from the item
    They steep skins in a tanning solution to create leather.
    The tea is steeping.
  2. To be imbued with an abstract quality
    a town steeped in history
  3. To make tea (or other beverage) by placing leaves in hot water.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]

Noun [edit]

steep (countable and uncountable; plural steeps)

  1. A liquid used in a steeping process
    Corn steep has many industrial uses.
  2. A rennet bag.
Translations [edit]

References [edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 steep” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
  2. ^ Danish cognate in ODS: eng. (muligvis fra nordisk) steep
  3. ^ steep in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913