steppe
/stɛp/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.83 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Nevertheless be it remarked, that even a Russian steppe has tumuli and gold ornaments […]"
- "Enkidu was the hairy man of the wild steppes, and Gilgamesh was the hero of civilization; but now the contrast is between Gilgamesh, the king, the man of political power, the heroic man of action, the extrovert, and Utnapishtim, the man of religious authority, the introvert, the sage."
- "Grasslands: The Steppe biome is a dry, cold, grassland that is found in all of the continents except Australia and Antarctica. It is mostly found in the USA, Mongolia, Siberia, Tibet and China. There isn't much humidity in the air because Steppe is located away from the ocean and close to mountain barriers."
Etymology
From German Steppe or French steppe, in turn from Russian степь (stepʹ, “flat grassy plain”) or Ukrainian степ (step). There is no generally accepted earlier etymology, but there is a speculative Old East Slavic reconstruction *сътепь (sŭtepĭ, “trampled place, flat, bare”), related to топот (topot), топтать (toptatĭ).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Steppe, степь, степ
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /stɛp/
- British English: /stɛp/