Word: step Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *stapjaną Proto-West Germanic *stappjan Old English stæppan Middle English steppen English step 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. Pronunciation: /stɛp/ 1. An advance or movement made from one foot to the other; a pace. Example: Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear. 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. Example: The breadth of every single step or stair should be never less than one foot. Example: One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier. 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. Example: He improved step by step, or by steps. Example: The first step is to find a job. 6. A running board where passengers step to get on and off the bus. Example: The driver must have a clear view of the step in order to prevent accidents. 7. The space passed over by one movement of the foot in walking or running. Example: One step is generally about three feet, but may be more or less. Example: To derive two or three general principles of motion from phenomena, and afterwards to tell us how the properties and actions of all corporeal things follow from those manifest principles, would be a very great step in philosophy. 8. A small space or distance. Example: It is but a step. 9. A print of the foot; a footstep; a footprint; track. 10. A gait; manner of walking. Example: The approach of a man is often known by his step. Example: Warwick passed through one of the wide brick arches and traversed the building with a leisurely step. 11. Proceeding; measure; action; act. Example: The reputation of a man depends on the first steps he makes in the world. Example: Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day, Live till to-morrow, will have passed away. 12. A walk; passage. Labels: in-plural Example: Conduct my steps to find the fatal tree. 13. A portable framework of stairs, much used indoors in reaching to a high position. Labels: in-plural 14. A framing in wood or iron which is intended to receive an upright shaft; specifically, a block of wood, or a solid platform upon the keelson, supporting the heel of the mast. 15. One of a series of offsets, or parts, resembling the steps of stairs, as one of the series of parts of a cone pulley on which the belt runs. 16. A bearing in which the lower extremity of a spindle or a vertical shaft revolves. 17. The interval between two contiguous degrees of the scale. Example: Usage note: The word tone is often used as the name of this interval; but there is evident incongruity in using tone for indicating the interval between tones. As the word scale is derived from the Italian scala, a ladder, the intervals may well be called steps. 18. A change of position effected by a motion of translation. Example: A change of position effected by a motion of translation will be called a step. 19. A constant difference between consecutive values in a series. Example: Printing from 0 to 9 with a step of 3 will display 0, 3, 6 and 9. 20. Kick scooter. Labels: Netherlands, slang 21. Stepping (style of dance)