steppe
See also: Steppe
English
Etymology
From German Steppe or French steppe, in turn from Russian степь (stepʹ, “flat grassy plain”) or Ukrainian степ (step). There is no generally accepted earlier etymology, but there is a speculative Old East Slavic reconstruction *сътепь (sŭtepĭ, “trampled place, flat, bare”), related to топот (topot), топтать (toptatĭ).
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) IPA(key): /stɛp/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛp
- Homophone: step
Noun
steppe (countable and uncountable, plural steppes)
- The grasslands of Eastern Europe and Asia. Similar to (North American) prairie and (African) savanna. [from 1671]
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 187:
- Enkidu was the hairy man of the wild steppes, and Gilgamesh was the hero of civilization; but now the contrast is between Gilgamesh, the king, the man of political power, the heroic man of action, the extrovert, and Utnapishtim, the man of religious authority, the introvert, the sage.
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- A vast, cold, dry grass-plain.
- 2000, Mary Elizabeth v. N., “Steppe”, in Blue Planet Biomes, West Tisbury Elementary School:
- Grasslands: The Steppe biome is a dry, cold, grassland that is found in all of the continents except Australia and Antarctica. It is mostly found in the USA, Mongolia, Siberia, Tibet and China. There isn't much humidity in the air because Steppe is located away from the ocean and close to mountain barriers.
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Usage notes
Although it may be the steppe biome, one would not normally speak of the steppes of Canada, whereas one would speak of the steppes of Asia or the steppes of Russia.
Derived terms
- forest steppe
- mammoth steppe
- shrubsteppe
- steppe eagle
- steppe mammoth
- steppe-tundra
- steppic
Translations
the grasslands of Eastern Europe and Asia
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vast cold, dry grass-plains
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
- US prairie
- savanna
- plain
- (South African) veld
- (South American) pampa
References
- Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “степ”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka
Further reading
steppe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- Estepp
Danish
Noun
steppe c (definite singular steppen, indefinite plural stepper, definite plural stepperne)
- steppe (large treeless grass plain)
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from German Steppe or French steppe, from Russian степь (stepʹ, “flat grassy plain”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈstɛpə/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: step‧pe
- Rhymes: -ɛpə
Noun
steppe f (plural steppes, diminutive steppetje n)
- steppe
Derived terms
- steppenroller
French
Etymology
From Russian степь (stepʹ).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /stɛp/
Audio (file)
Noun
steppe f (plural steppes)
- steppe
Derived terms
- aigle des steppes
Descendants
- → Italian: steppa
- → Romanian: stepă
- → Turkish: step
Further reading
- “steppe”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʃtɛpə/
Audio (file)
Verb
steppe
- inflection of steppen:
- first-person singular present
- first/third-person singular subjunctive I
- singular imperative
Italian
Noun
steppe f
- plural of steppa
Middle English
Alternative forms
- stap, stape, steape, steepe, step, stepe
Etymology
From Old English stæpe, stepe, from Proto-West Germanic *stapi. The (historical) geminate is due to the influence of steppen.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈstɛp(ə)/, /ˈstɛːp(ə)/, /ˈstap(ə)/, /ˈstaːp(ə)/
Noun
steppe (plural steppes)
- A step, pace (movement of the foot)
- A step or stair; an individual landing of a set of stairs.
- An imprint or sign of something; that which something leaves as evidence:
- The imprint left by a step; a footprint or track.
- The imprint left by a thing, person or phenomenon (extant or former)
- (figurative) The remains left by an injury or disease.
- The bottom region of the foot; the sole.
- A phase, step or tier as part of a scale or process.
- (figurative) A move, action or direction (towards an objective).
- (rare) The length covered by a step (as a unit of length, ~2.5 feet)
- (rare) The ground; a foothold or stepping-place.
- (rare) A group or a thing that is part of it.
Descendants
- English: step
- Scots: step, stap, stop
References
- “step, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-1.
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
steppe m (definite singular steppen, indefinite plural stepper, definite plural steppene)
- steppe (large treeless grass plain)
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
steppe f (definite singular steppa, indefinite plural stepper, definite plural steppene)
- steppe (large treeless grass plain)