steel

English

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Etymology

From Middle English stele, stel, from Old English (North) stēle, (South) stȳle, from Proto-Germanic *stahlijan (compare West Frisian stiel), enlargement of *stahlan (compare Dutch staal, German Stahl, Danish stål, Icelandic stál) from Proto-Indo-European *stak- ‘to stay, be firm’ (compare Umbrian stakaz ‘upright, erected’, Avestan  (staxra) ‘strong’, Sanskrit  (stákati) ‘resist, strike against’).

Pronunciation

Noun

steel (countable and uncountable; plural steels)

  1. (uncountable, countable) A metal alloy of mostly iron plus carbon, harder than pure elemental iron but malleable when hot.
  2. (countable) A tool used to sharpen or hone knives; a honing steel.
    • 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Chapter V
      When he came to Nottingham, he entered that part of the market where butchers stood, and took up his inn(2) in the best place he could find. Next, he opened his stall and spread his meat upon the bench, then, taking his cleaver and steel and clattering them together, he trolled aloud in merry tones:...
  3. (countable) A sword.
  4. (music, guitar) A type of slide used in the practice of steel guitar.
  5. (uncountable, figuratively) Hardness; strength in adversity; mettle.
    • 2011 October 15, Michael Da Silva, “Wigan 1 - 3 Bolton”, BBC Sport:
      Rodallega added some steel to the Wigan forward line when he made his return from injury as a half-time substitute. The Colombian linked well with Franco Di Santo and gave Wigan the belief they lacked in the first half.

Derived terms

terms derived from steel (noun)

Translations

metal alloy
tool used to sharpen or hone knives

Verb

steel (third-person singular simple present steels, present participle steeling, simple past and past participle steeled)

  1. To harden.
    The harsh fall weather steeled them against the colder winter.
    • 2009 January 22, “The Celebration, and the Work Ahead”, New York Times:
      Often muscular and severe, the speech diagnosed the nation’s problems with a cold eye, swept away objections to decisive action, and steeled the American people for the measures that will be necessary, all the while providing a positive vision of a remade America that stands firmly on American values and traditions.
  2. To cover with steel
  3. To hone with a honing steel.

Anagrams

References

“steel” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

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Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

steel m (plural stelen, diminutive steeltje)

  1. stem (of a plant)
  2. handle (of a broom, a pan)

Synonyms

Derived terms

Verb

steel

  1. first-person singular present indicative of stelen
  2. imperative of stelen

Anagrams

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Last modified on 12 May 2013, at 13:33