Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)tew-
Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp-der.?
Proto-Germanic *staupaz
Proto-West Germanic *staup
Old English stēap
Middle English steep
English steep
From Middle English steep, from Old English stēap (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *staupaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp- (“to push, stick”).
Compare Old Frisian stāp ("high, towering"; > Modern Saterland Frisian stiep (“steep”)), Dutch stoop (“grand; proud”), Middle High German stouf (“towering cliff, precipice”), Middle High German stief (“steep”)). 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.
Meanings
Of a near-vertical gradient; of a slope, surface, curve, etc. that proceeds upward or downward at an angle approaching vertical.
[…] Category Two implement hitches and doubled high-traction agricultural tires hung four to each massive rear axle to breast the steepest, softest dune or guckiest swamp […] 2010, Robert Beeman, No More Time for Sorrow, page 133:
a steep hill or mountain; a steep roof; a steep ascent; a steep barometric gradient
They will be called upon to deal with freight trains of up to 900 tons over gradients considerably steeper than those of the Central Section—for example, the frequent stretches of 1 in 100 between Victoria and the Medway towns—and their running to fast schedules will include the haulage of the "Night Ferry", which may load up to as much as 700 tons, and fully-fitted trains of 30 or more heavy Continental train ferry wagons. 1959 March, “The 2,500 h.p. electric locomotives for the Kent Coast electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 123:
Up these steep walkways cannelured for footpurchase, the free passage of roaches. 1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, page 21:
(informal) Expensive.
Twenty quid for a shave? That's a bit steep.
(obsolete) Difficult to access; not easy reached; lofty; elevated; high.
Her ears and thoughts in steep amaze erected 1596, George Chapman, De Guiana, carmen Epicum:
(of the rake of a ship's mast, qualifier:or a car's windshield) resulting in a mast or windshield angle that strongly diverges from the perpendicular.
The steep rake of the windshield enhances the fast lines of the exterior.
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)tew-
Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp-der.?
Proto-Germanic *staupaz
Proto-West Germanic *staup
Old English stēap
Middle English steep
English steep
From Middle English steep, from Old English stēap (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *staupaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp- (“to push, stick”).
Compare Old Frisian stāp ("high, towering"; > Modern Saterland Frisian stiep (“steep”)), Dutch stoop (“grand; proud”), Middle High German stouf (“towering cliff, precipice”), Middle High German stief (“steep”)). 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.
Meanings
The steep side of a mountain etc.; a slope or acclivity.
[L]ess scared, but not built for gazelle cavorting, so awkward on the steep that she had to take to hands and knees, and looked more like a monkey. 1961, Xavier Herbert, Soldiers' Women, Netley, SA: Fontana Books, published 1978, page 98:
It ended precipitously in a dark and narrow ravine, formed on the other side by an opposite mountain, the lofty steep of which was crested by a city gently rising on a gradual slope 1833, Benjamin Disraeli, The Wondrous Tale of Alroy:
From Middle English stepen, from Old Norse steypa (“to make stoop, cast down, pour out, cast (metal)”), from Proto-Germanic *staupijaną (“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”). Related to stoop.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) A liquid used in a steeping process
Corn steep has many industrial uses.
(countable, uncountable) A rennet bag.
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
steeps
Number=Plur
lexicographic
Translations (5)
uk нава́р (liquid) · es sopa (liquid) · tr çözelti (liquid) · de Lauge (liquid) · zza agozte (liquid)
From Middle English stepen, from Old Norse steypa (“to make stoop, cast down, pour out, cast (metal)”), from Proto-Germanic *staupijaną (“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”). Related to stoop.
Meanings
(qualifier:middle voice, transitive) To soak or wet thoroughly.
In refreshing dews to steep / The little, trembling flowers. 1820, William Wordsworth, Composed at Cora Linn, in sight of Wallace's Tower:
The tea is steeping.
A Greek historian Phylarchus describes a white root indigenous to India that caused eunuchism when a person bathed in water in which the root was steeped. 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 123:
They steep skins in a tanning solution to create leather.
(qualifier:middle voice, transitive) To soak or wet thoroughly. ▸ To make tea (or other beverages) by soaking leaves in water, which flavors the water.
(figuratively, intransitive) To imbue with something; to be deeply immersed in.
We fought against each other, two brothers steeped in blood / But I never doubted that your heart was broken in the flood / And though we had to shoot you down in golden Béal na mBláth / I always knew that Ireland lost her greatest son of all. 1989, Black 47, Big Fellah:
The learned of the nation were steeped in Latin. 1871, John Earle, The Philology of the English Tongue:
bg потапям (to imbue with an abstract quality) · ja 浸す (to soak an item in liquid) · fr infuser (to make tea or other beverage) · uk просочи́ти (to soak an item in liquid) · bg накисвам (to soak an item in liquid) · cmn 泡 (to make tea or other beverage) · gl remollar (to soak an item in liquid) · ru завари́ть (to make tea or other beverage) · de einweichen (to soak an item in liquid) · ja 潤かす (to soak an item in liquid) · pl zaparzać (to make tea or other beverage) · mi whakamara (to soak an item in liquid) · grc καταβρέχω (to soak an item in liquid) · ru погрузи́ть (to imbue with an abstract quality) · it immergere (to soak an item in liquid) · he השרה (to soak an item in liquid) · cs marinovat (to soak an item in liquid) · mi tutu (to soak an item in liquid) · de ziehen lassen (to make tea or other beverage) · ru погружа́ть (to imbue with an abstract quality) · cs louhovat (to make tea or other beverage) · ru пропи́тываться (to imbue with an abstract quality) · fi liottaa (to soak an item in liquid) · zza procnayen (to soak an item in liquid) · it decantare (to soak an item in liquid) · fr imbiber (to soak an item in liquid) · la subficiō (to soak an item in liquid) · ru пропита́ться (to imbue with an abstract quality) · cs máčet (to soak an item in liquid) · nl weken (to soak an item in liquid) · tr daldırmak (to soak an item in liquid) · sv dra (to make tea or other beverage) · gd masg (to make tea or other beverage) · cs namáčet (to soak an item in liquid) · cmn 沏 (to make tea or other beverage) · ru пропита́ть (to soak an item in liquid) · bg варя (to make tea or other beverage) · gl amolentar (to soak an item in liquid) · fr imprégner (to soak an item in liquid) · ja 注ぎ込む (to imbue with an abstract quality) · uk просо́чувати (to soak an item in liquid) · uk завари́ти (to make tea or other beverage) · gl imbuir (to imbue with an abstract quality) · da dykke (to soak an item in liquid) · ru наста́ивать (to soak an item in liquid) · mi waiwai (to soak an item in liquid) · sv indränka (to soak an item in liquid) · ru зава́ривать (to make tea or other beverage) · gl añoñoar (to imbue with an abstract quality) · mi whakaruku (to soak an item in liquid) · ru пропита́ть (to imbue with an abstract quality) · it macerare (to soak an item in liquid) · ja 煎じる (to make tea or other beverage) · fi kyllästää (to imbue with an abstract quality) · vi ngâm (to soak an item in liquid) · uk замо́чувати (to soak an item in liquid) · ru выма́чивать (to soak an item in liquid) · gd tarraing (to make tea or other beverage) · gl impreinar (to imbue with an abstract quality) · ru зама́чивать (to soak an item in liquid) · mi tāwai (to soak an item in liquid) · uk загру́знути (to imbue with an abstract quality) · uk загруза́ти (to imbue with an abstract quality) · uk замочи́ти (to soak an item in liquid) · da trække (to make tea or other beverage) · ru погряза́ть (to imbue with an abstract quality) · da dyppe (to soak an item in liquid) · fr imprégner (to imbue with an abstract quality) · es remojar (to soak an item in liquid) · ru вы́мочить (to soak an item in liquid) · ru пропи́тывать (to soak an item in liquid) · mi kōpiro (to soak an item in liquid) · de eintauchen (to soak an item in liquid) · uk зава́рювати (to make tea or other beverage) · ru пропи́тывать (to imbue with an abstract quality) · pl zaparzyć (to make tea or other beverage) · tr demlemek (to make tea or other beverage) · ru погря́знуть (to imbue with an abstract quality)