steppe

Forms

steppe f (plural steppes)^[1] Earlier step (1679, 1752); the spelling steppe appears in 1810.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Russian степь (stepʹ), a feminine noun also used as masculine in Russian,^{[2][3][4][5][1][6]} taken through, or under the influence of, English, where step is recorded in 1672 in Samuel Collins's account of Russia.^[2][3] The French word was at first masculine; in 1835 the Académie noted that several geographers made it feminine, and the feminine gender spread only slowly.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Step first appears in 1679, in the French translation of Collins's book on Russia, as the name of a desert in Siberia.^[2][3][5] The Dictionnaire de Trévoux (1752) has it as a masculine common noun for a plain of Russia.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word remained rare and exotic until the 19th century.^[3][5] It names, like its Russian source, a vast uncultivated treeless plain with a dry climate and poor, grassy vegetation;^[3][7] Littré also records it for land in Ukraine left fallow for years.^[3][7] In the 20th century history and archaeology use it in peuple des steppes and art des steppes, the latter for the metalwork and ornaments of the peoples of the Asian and East European steppes.^[3][8]

By extension it was used of any barren plain (Balzac, before 1850), and in literary style of any uniform expanse, such as the sea (Sainte-Beuve, before 1869).^[3][9] In biogeography it names a type of vegetation of drought-resistant plants in scattered tufts.^[2][9]

Timeline

• 1672 – English step in Samuel Collins.^[2]
• 1679 – Step as the name of a Siberian desert.^[2][4]
• 1752 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records step as a masculine noun.^[2]
• 1810 – The spelling steppe in Joseph de Maistre.^[2]
• 1835 – The Académie notes the feminine gender.^[2][3]
• Before 1850 – Balzac uses it for any barren plain.^[3][9]
• 1909 – The adjective steppique is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A steppe, a vast, treeless, uncultivated plain with a dry climate and sparse, grassy vegetation: les steppes d'Asie centrale.^[8][3]
2. (biogeography) A plant formation of xerophilous herbs and shrubs growing in scattered tufts.^[2][9]
3. (literary) Any vast, barren or uniform expanse.^[3][9]

Word family

• steppique

Related words

• toundra
• Russian степь (stepʹ)

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 20, 50b
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse