Added 9 October 2026
steam
/stiːm/ noun
In Latin: vapor Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about steam at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Water at boiling temperature diffused in the atmosphere.
verb
Origin
From Middle English steem, stem, from Old English stēam (“steam, hot exhalation, hot breath; that which emits vapour; blood”), from Proto-Germanic *staumaz (“steam, vapour, breath”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to whirl, waft, stink, shake; steam, haze, smoke”). Cognate with Scots stem, steam (“steam”), West Frisian steam (“steam, vapour”), Dutch stoom (“steam, vapour”), Low German stom (“steam”), Swedish dialectal stimma (“steam, fog”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)