steep

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Rising or falling sharply at a high angle.

   We climbed the steep attic stairs.

2. 2
   adj

   Much more expensive than expected.

   Twenty pounds for a haircut is a bit steep.

3. 3
   verb

   To leave something in a liquid for a while to soak or to release flavor.

   Steep the tea leaves in hot water for five minutes.

From Middle English steep, from Old English stēap (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *staupaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- (“to push, stick”). Compare Old Frisian stāp ("high, towering"; > Modern Saterland Frisian stiep (“steep”)), Dutch stoop (“grand; proud”), Middle High German stouf (“towering cliff, precipice”), Middle High German stief (“steep”)). The Proto-Indo-European root (and related) has many and varied descendants, including English stub; compare also Scots stap (“to strike, to forcibly insert”). The sense of “sharp slope” is attested circa 1200; the sense “expensive” is attested…

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