Link Centre Dictionary

steppe

UK/stɛp/ US/ˈstɛp/ uncommon

noun

1.

extensive plain without trees (associated with eastern Russia and Siberia)

Origin

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).

Phrases

  • forest steppe
  • mammoth steppe
  • steppe bison
  • steppe cat
  • steppe eagle
  • steppe fox
  • steppe lemming
  • steppe lion

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.