*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of steer

Inherited from Middle English steeren, steren, stiren, sturen, steoren, from Old English stēoran, stīeran, stȳran (“to steer; guide a vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *stiurijan (“to steer”), from Proto-Germanic *stiur

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A suggestion about a course of action. · A helmsman; a pilot.

verb

To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel). · To be directed and governed; to take a direction, or course; to obey the helm. · To direct a group of animals.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Inherited from Middle English steeren, steren, stiren, sturen, steoren, from Old English stēoran, stīeran, stȳran (“to steer; guide a vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *stiurijan (“to steer”), from Proto-Germanic *stiurijaną (“to steer”). The noun is from Middle English steere, stere (“rudder”), steor, from Old English stēor, stȳr (“steering; guidance; direction”). Compare Dutch stuur, German Steuer, Icelandic stýri.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymid",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "guide"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "yesno",
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "steeren",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "lit": "",
        "pos": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": "",
        "id": "",
        "sc": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English steeren"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "steeren"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English steeren"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "stēoran"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English stēoran"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*stiurijan",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to steer"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *stiurijan (“to steer”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*stiurijaną",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to steer"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *stiurijaną (“to steer”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "steere"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English steere"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "stēor"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English stēor"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "stuur"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch stuur"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Steuer"
      },
      "expansion": "German Steuer"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "stýri"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic stýri"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "steeren",
      "steeren#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "steren",
      "steren#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "stiren",
      "stiren#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "sturen",
      "sturen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "steoren",
      "steoren#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "stēoran",
      "steoran#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "stīeran",
      "stieran#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "stȳran",
      "styran#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*stiurijan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/stiurijan"
    ],
    [
      "*stiurijaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/stiurijaną"
    ],
    [
      "steere",
      "steere#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "stere",
      "stere#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "steor",
      "steor#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "stēor",
      "steor#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "stȳr",
      "styr#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "stuur",
      "stuur#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Steuer",
      "Steuer#German"
    ],
    [
      "stýri",
      "stýri#Icelandic"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A suggestion about a course of action.",
        "A helmsman; a pilot."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "recordId": "259679d6ef0c172581dc72326ca8ccf7e1cd542baacf620f04c794eecdd71a6c",
      "rawRecordSha256": "a271fd82596a14656fffb755a41d63e15b6b5384ce27091ec4386e4a9e8904ef",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 177160
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel).",
        "To be directed and governed; to take a direction, or course; to obey the helm.",
        "To direct a group of animals."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "731dddcba33140910a819a1121a5728fd605e1cdf8e1e0cd695bcbc87faf77bf",
      "rawRecordSha256": "9a6f02efac7b11040b65e4130c2e655eef7839065bd05872dfd7f6de31f4167b",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 177159
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 4,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

The castrated male of cattle, especially one raised for beef production.

verb

To castrate (a male calf).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Inherited from Middle English steer, ster, from Old English stēor (“a young bull or cow; steer”), from Proto-Germanic *steuraz (“bull; steer”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)táwros (“wild bull; aurochs”). Cognate with Dutch stier, German Stier, Icelandic stjór, Latin taurus (“bull”), Greek ταύρος (távros). Doublet of tur and Taurus.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymid",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cattle"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "yesno",
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "steer",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "lit": "",
        "pos": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": "",
        "id": "",
        "sc": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English steer"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "steer"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English steer"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "stēor",
        "4": "",
        "5": "a young bull or cow; steer"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English stēor (“a young bull or cow; steer”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*steuraz",
        "4": "",
        "5": "bull; steer"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *steuraz (“bull; steer”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)táwros",
        "4": "",
        "5": "wild bull; aurochs"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *(s)táwros (“wild bull; aurochs”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "stier"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch stier"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Stier"
      },
      "expansion": "German Stier"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "stjór"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic stjór"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "taurus",
        "3": "",
        "4": "bull"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin taurus (“bull”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "el",
        "2": "ταύρος"
      },
      "expansion": "Greek ταύρος (távros)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tur",
        "3": "Taurus"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of tur and Taurus"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "steer",
      "steer#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "ster",
      "ster#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "stēor",
      "steor#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*steuraz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/steuraz"
    ],
    [
      "*(s)táwros",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/(s)táwros"
    ],
    [
      "stier",
      "stier#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Stier",
      "Stier#German"
    ],
    [
      "stjór",
      "stjór#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "taurus",
      "taurus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "ταύρος",
      "ταύρος#Greek"
    ],
    [
      "tur",
      "tur#English"
    ],
    [
      "Taurus",
      "Taurus#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The castrated male of cattle, especially one raised for beef production."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "8d015bbf97ff56ca5909b812b4e31bced2bfec1d957432366fbf1a5c8fc36a2d",
      "rawRecordSha256": "22c833fafdb0d41de5df6bec750acf10bff5780617d344d1bd748f806f976b02",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 177161
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To castrate (a male calf)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "b4938591d8eee17b71cf2df2780d411718cfda873881825b898c738ba74a63d5",
      "rawRecordSha256": "f1016a11208a03580a8bae9f1abc6084f96800666bf9206ccc4a03b898b60ec7",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 177162
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for steer →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c3RlZXI