Etymologically
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steel

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:26. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /stiːl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English stele,[2][3] inherited from Old English stȳle (Mercian stēle),[4][2][5] from the noun use of Proto-Germanic *stahliją (“made of steel”),[4][2] which is also the source of Old Saxon stehli.[2] The related noun *stahla- gave Middle Low German stāl, Dutch staal, Old High German stahal (German Stahl) and Old Norse stál.[4][2][5] It is said to come from *stahla- “standing fast”, from Proto-Indo-European *stek-lo-, from Proto-Indo-European *stak- (“to stand, place, be firm”),[4][2] perhaps as that which stands firm;[4] Merriam-Webster compares Sanskrit stakati “resists”.[3] No corresponding word exists outside Germanic except as borrowings.[4] It is related to stay “to stand”.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Artificially hardened iron: about 725, in Beowulf.[2][7] Steel was not found in nature but was known in ancient times.[4]

Semantic evolution

Steel as weapons or cutting tools, a sword, is from before 1000.[7] It has been figurative of hardness at least since about 1200,[4] as in true as steel from before 1300.[7] The adjective is from about 1200.[4] The verb, “to make hard or strong like steel”, is from the 1580s, and its earliest use is figurative, as in to steel oneself;[4] the New Oxford dates it to the late 16th century.[6] A particular variety of steel is from 1839,[7] and a cold grey colour from 1851.[7] Steel wool is from 1896,[4] and the West Indian steel drum from 1952.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – steel, in Beowulf.[2][7]
  • before 1000 – a weapon.[7]
  • c. 1200 – figurative hardness.[4]
  • 1580s – verb, to steel oneself.[4]
  • 1851 – steel grey.[7]
  • 1896 – steel wool.[4]
  • 1952 – steel drum.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A hard, strong alloy of iron and carbon.
  2. Something made of steel, especially a sword or other weapon.
  3. Great strength or hardness: nerves of steel.

Adjective

  1. Made of steel; hard and strong like steel.
  2. Of the grey colour of steel.

Verb

  1. To cover, edge or point with steel.
  2. To make hard or determined: to steel oneself.

Word family

  • steellike

Usage notes

In Scots and Northumbrian a steel was a ridge or tongue of land, or a precipice.[8]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)