steel

B1 Topic:Materials & Substances

US /stiːl/ See IPA manual

Homophones

steal /stiːl/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like still /ɪ/ vs /iː/

Freq #3032

Meanings

1

noun
A strong, hard metal made from iron, used in building and tools.

The bridge is made of steel and concrete.
2

adj
Made of steel.

He gripped the cold steel bar.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms steeledsteelingsteels

Derived forms biosteelblister-steelelectrosteelfiresteelnonsteeloxysteelplasteelpresteelradiosteelresteelsemisteelsteel-barred

Etymology

From Middle English stele, stel, from Old English stīele, from Proto-West Germanic *stahlī (“something made of steel”), enlargement of *stahl (“steel”), from Proto-Germanic *stahlą, from *stah- or *stag- (“to be firm, rigid”), from Proto-Indo-European *stak- (“to stay, to be firm”). Compare Scots stele, Yola stehli, German Stahl, Dutch staal.

stele Middle English stīele Old English *stahlī Proto-West Germanic *stahlą Proto-Germanic *stak- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

External links

# steel

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /stiːl/
**Frequency rank:** 3032

## Meanings
1. A strong, hard metal made from iron, used in building and tools.
2. Made of steel.

## Examples
- The bridge is made of steel and concrete.
- He gripped the cold steel bar.

## Derived Forms
- biosteel
- blister-steel
- electrosteel
- firesteel
- nonsteel
- oxysteel
- plasteel
- presteel
- radiosteel
- resteel
- semisteel
- steel-barred

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: stele
- Root: stīele
- Root: *stahlī
- Root: *stahlą
- Root: *stak-

## Etymology
From Middle English stele, stel, from Old English stīele, from Proto-West Germanic *stahlī (“something made of steel”), enlargement of *stahl (“steel”), from Proto-Germanic *stahlą, from *stah- or *stag- (“to be firm, rigid”), from Proto-Indo-European *stak- (“to stay, to be firm”). Compare Scots stele, Yola stehli, German Stahl, Dutch staal.

## AI Etymology
Steel is from Middle English stele, stel, from Old English stīele, from Proto-West Germanic *stahlī (“something made of steel”), enlargement of *stahl (“steel”), from Proto-Germanic *stahlą, from *stah- or *stag- (“to be firm, rigid”), from Proto-Indo-European *stak- (“to stay, to be firm”). Compare Scots stele, Yola stehli, German Stahl, Dutch staal. In present-day use, it can mean a strong, hard metal made from iron, used in building and tools, or made of steel.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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steel

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