Etymograph

English

steer

Steer comes from Old English stēoran ‘to steer’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *stiurijō.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stiurijō‘steering, rudder’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stiurijaną‘to steer’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stiurijan‘to steer’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150stēoran‘to steer’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500steeren
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1667steer

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stiurijō‘steering, rudder’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stiurijaną‘to steer’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stiurijan‘to steer’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150stēoran‘to steer’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500steeren
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1667steer

Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost: “Where the wind / Veers oft, as oft [a…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *stiurijō

Another origin of steer

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)táwros‘wild bull’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*steuraz‘bull’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150stēor‘a young bull or cow’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500steer‘steer, young bull’
  5. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

verb To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *stiurijō / steer

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