Steap

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling of steep, describing something high, lofty, or rising sharply upward
2. An old form of the word steep, used to describe a height that rises very far above the ground
3. A variant of steep from older English, meaning towering, elevated, or ascending at a sharp angle

Etymology: Before "steep" meant a slope, the Old English form "steap" meant "high" or "lofty," and it described things that rose far above the ground, such as hills, towers, and mountains. The word is ancient and Germanic, not borrowed from Latin or French, and it survives in the modern language as "steep." Writers who want an archaic flavor sometimes still use the older spelling, but in everyday English the form has been replaced by the modern spelling. Its meaning shifted from height to angle. A steep slope is one that rises sharply, so the sense of "high" narrowed into "rising at a sharp angle." The idea of soaking in liquid is a separate later development, and it is generally treated as a different word, so the two senses did not simply grow from one another.