steak

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A thick, flat piece of meat, especially beef, for grilling or frying.

   He ordered a steak with chips for dinner.

2. 2
   noun

   A thick slice of fish cut across the bone.

   We grilled a salmon steak for lunch.

From Middle English steike, from Old Norse steik (“roast; meat roasted on a stick”). The verb is either from the noun or from steikja (“to roast”). The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language; contrast this with the development of other words such as speak and wreak.

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