Where does “steppe” come from?
Steppe comes from French steppe, from Russian степь, originally meaning a vast treeless plain.
steppe (English): The grasslands of Eastern Europe and Asia....
Definitions
- The grasslands of Eastern Europe and Asia....
Ancestry of “steppe”, step by step
steppe traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French steppe
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | steppe | steppe |
| 2 | Ukrainian | степ | steppe; tap dance |
| 3 | English | step | An advance or movement made from one foot to the... |
| 4 | English | stepchild | The child of one's spouse but not one's own; A... |
| 5 | Middle English | stepchild | stepchild child of a spouse |
| 6 | Old English | stēopċild | stepchild |
| 7 | Old English | ċild | child, youth; fetus; female baby; child |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | kelþaz | fetus; newborn; infant; child |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵelt- | womb |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵel- | to swallow; swallow |
via German Steppe
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Steppe | steppe grassland |