steam English · revision 4704

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=gem-pro *staumaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /stiːm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|stem]], [[inh|ang|stēam|t=vapour, fume, odour]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*staumaz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) also the source of Dutch stoom, West Frisian and Low German stoom “steam”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It is of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb is from Old English stēman, stīman “to give off a scent”, related to the noun.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A vapour or fume given off by something heated or burned, also an odour: about 1000 in the OED,^(OED 1989) before 1000 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) In Old English steam was any kind of hot vapour or gas.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The modern meaning, water in the form of vapour, settled in the 15th century (the mid-15th century in Etymonline).^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) A ray of light or a flame was a Middle English sense (about 1300),^(OED 1989) and the verb meant to glow or emit flame in Chaucer (about 1387–1395);^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) to give off steam is from 1614.^(Barnhart 1988) Steam that drives an engine is from the 1690s,^(Etymonline) the ''steam engine'' from 1751 and the ''steamboat'' from 1787.^(Barnhart 1988) To travel by steam power is from 1831,^(Etymonline) and to cook or treat with steam from 1798.^(Etymonline) ''Let off steam'' was literal in 1783 and figurative by 1845, and ''blow off steam'' figurative from 1857.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) ''Steamed up'', enthusiastic, is from 1913, and ''steam up'', to make angry, American English by 1921.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – a vapour, fume or odour.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – a ray of light, a flame.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – water vapour.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1690s – steam that drives an engine.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1751 – ''steam engine''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1787 – ''steamboat''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1831 – to travel by steam.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1845 – ''let off steam'', figuratively.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The hot gas that water turns into when it [[boil]]s.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Steam under pressure used for power or heating.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' [[energy|alt=Energy]] or momentum: ''run out of steam''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give off steam.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To cook or treat with steam.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move by steam power, or to move quickly.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To become covered with condensed steam, often with ''up''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' To be very angry.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[steamless]]

+ * [[outsteam]]

+ * [[presteam]]

+ * [[steamer]]

+ * [[steam up]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[steamboat]]

+ * [[steamroller]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}