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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

step

/stɛp/
An advance or movement made from one foot to the other; a pace.

    Etymology graph

    • inherited
    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English steppen, from Old English steppan (“to step, go, proceed, advance”), stepe (“step”), from Proto-West Germanic *stappjan, from Proto-Germanic *stapjaną (“to step”), *stapiz (“step”), from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (“to support, stomp, curse, be amazed”).

    Cognate with West Frisian stappe (“to step”), North Frisian stape (“to walk, trudge”), Dutch stappen (“to step, walk”), Walloon steper (“to walk away, leave”), German stapfen (“to trudge, stomp, plod”) and further to Slavic Polish stąpać (“to stomp, stamp, step, tread”), Russian ступать (stupatʹ) and Polish stopień (“step, stair, rung, degree”), Russian степень (stepenʹ). Related to stamp, stomp.

    Etymology 2

    Clipping of stepchild and stepsibling.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishsteppen
      • inheritedOld Englishstæppan
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*stappjan
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*stapjaną “to step”
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*stebʰ- “to support, stomp, curse, be amazed”
    • derivedEnglishstepchild “The child of one's spouse from a previous relationship.”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishstepchild
        • inheritedOld Englishstēopċild “stepchild”
      • prefixEnglishstep- “A prefix used before father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, child, and so forth, to indica…”
        • inheritedMiddle Englishstep-
    • derivedEnglishstepsibling “The child of one's stepparent by a previous relationship.”
      • partEnglishsibling “A person who shares a parent; one's brother or sister who one shares a parent with.”
        • learned borrowingOld Englishsibling “relative, a relation, kinsman”
        • suffixEnglish-ling “small, immature, miniature”
          • inheritedMiddle English-ling

    Related: West Frisian stappe, North Frisian stape, Dutch stappen, Walloon steper, German stapfen, Polish stąpać, Russian ступать, Polish stopień, Russian степень

    Meanings

    noun
    1. An advance or movement made from one foot to the other; a pace.
    2. A rest, or one of a set of rests, for the foot in ascending or descending, as a stair, or a rung of a ladder.
    3. The part of a spade, digging stick or similar tool that a digger's foot rests against and presses on when digging; an ear, a foot-rest.
    4. The button joining a glass's stem to its foot.
    5. A distinct part of a process; stage; phase.
    6. A running board where passengers step to get on and off the bus.
    verb
    1. To move the foot in walking; to advance or recede by raising and moving one of the feet to another resting place, or by moving both feet in succession.
    2. To don with a stepping action.
    3. To walk; to go (on foot, especially) a little distance.
    4. To walk slowly, gravely, or resolutely.
    5. To dance.
    6. To move mentally; to go in imagination.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: step