steep

      English

      Pronunciation

      Etymology 1

      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

      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
      near-vertical

      Etymology 2

      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

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

      1. (transitive, intransitive) 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.
        • Wordsworth
          In refreshing dew to steep / The little, trembling flowers.
      2. (intransitive) To imbue with something.
        • Earle
          The learned of the nation were steeped in Latin.
        a town steeped in history
      3. To make tea (or other beverage) by placing leaves in hot water.
      Derived terms
      Translations
      to soak an item in liquid
      to imbue with an abstract quality
      to make tea/coffee

      Noun

      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
      liquid

      References

      1. ↑ 1.01.1 “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
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      Last modified on 14 June 2013, at 18:09