steep

Etymology 1

From Middle English steep, from Old English stēap (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *staupaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- (“to push, stick”). Compare Old Frisian stāp ("high, towering"; > Modern Saterland Frisian stiep (“steep”)), Dutch stoop (“grand; proud”), Middle High German stouf (“towering cliff, precipice”), Middle High German stief (“steep”)). The Proto-Indo-European root (and related) has many and varied descendants, including English stub; compare also Scots stap (“to strike, to forcibly insert”). The sense of “sharp slope” is attested circa 1200; the sense “expensive” is attested US 1856.

adj

1. Of a near-vertical gradient; of a slope, surface, curve, etc. that proceeds upward at an angle near vertical.
   a steep hill or mountain; a steep roof; a steep ascent; a steep barometric gradient
2. (informal) expensive
   Twenty quid for a shave? That's a bit steep.
3. (obsolete) Difficult to access; not easy reached; lofty; elevated; high.
   Her ears and thoughts in steep amaze erected 1596, George Chapman, De Guiana, carmen Epicum
4. (of the rake of a ship's mast, or a car's windshield) resulting in a mast or windshield angle that strongly diverges from the perpendicular
   The steep rake of the windshield enhances the fast lines of the exterior.

noun

1. The steep side of a mountain etc.; a slope or acclivity.
   It ended precipitously in a dark and narrow ravine, formed on the other side by an opposite mountain, the lofty steep of which was crested by a city gently rising on a gradual slope 1833, Benjamin Disraeli, The Wondrous Tale of Alroy

Etymology 2

From Middle English stepen, from Old Norse steypa (“to make stoop, cast down, pour out, cast (metal)”), from Proto-Germanic *staupijaną (“to tumble, make tumble, plunge”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- (“to push, hit”). Cognate with Danish støbe (“cast (metal)”), Norwegian støpe, støype, Swedish stöpa (“to found, cast (metal)”), Old English stūpian (“to stoop, bend the back, slope”). Doublet of stoop.

verb

1. (transitive, middle) To soak or wet thoroughly.
   They steep skins in a tanning solution to create leather.
   The tea is steeping.
   In refreshing dews to steep / The little, trembling flowers. 1820, William Wordsworth, Composed at Cora Linn, in sight of Wallace's Tower
2. (intransitive, figurative) To imbue with something; to be deeply immersed in.
   a town steeped in history
   The learned of the nation were steeped in Latin. 1871, John Earle, The Philology of the English Tongue
   We fought against each other, two brothers steeped in blood / But I never doubted that your heart was broken in the flood / And though we had to shoot you down in golden Béal na mBláth / I always knew that Ireland lost her greatest son of all. 1989, Black 47, Big Fellah
3. To make tea (or other beverage) by placing leaves in hot water.

noun

1. A liquid used in a steeping process
   Corn steep has many industrial uses.
2. A rennet bag.