steel
STEEL · noun
Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicProto-West GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish
Origin
Steel comes from Middle English stele, from Old English stīele, tracing back through Proto-West Germanic *stahlī and Proto-Germanic *stahlą to a Proto-Indo-European root *stak-, meaning 'to stay' or 'to be firm.'
Journey
The word has stayed remarkably close to its root sense — from an ancient idea of firmness and rigidity to the literal hardened metal we call steel today.
Related words
It shares its Germanic root with German Stahl, Dutch staal, and the Scandinavian stål — all pointing back to that same idea of firmness.