English

substep

From sub- + step.

A compound of sub- + step

Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up; from below’

Proto-Italic *supo ‘under’

Latin sub ‘under, beneath, below’

English sub-

Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- ‘to support’

Proto-Germanic *stapjaną ‘to step’

Proto-West Germanic *stappjan ‘to step’

Old English steppan ‘to step’

Middle English steppen ‘to step’

English step

Today it means

noun Any smaller element of a step in a procedure.

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