Etymograph

English

step

Step comes from Middle English steppen ‘to step’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- ‘to support, stomp, curse, be amazed’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stebʰ-‘to support’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stapjaną‘to step’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stappjan‘to step’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150steppan‘to step’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500steppen‘to step’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1624step

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stebʰ-‘to support’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stapjaną‘to step’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stappjan‘to step’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150steppan‘to step’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500steppen‘to step’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1624step

Earliest quotation: 1624, Sir Henry Wotton: “The breadth of every single step or stair should…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- ‘to support, stomp, curse, be amazed’

staff, steven, staple, 5 more

Today it means

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

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- / step

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