steam
/stiːm/noun, verb, adjective
steam is spelled S-T-E-A-M: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, steam means “The hot gaseous form of water, formed when water changes from the liquid phase to the gas phase (at or above its boiling point temperature)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of steam is steams.
How many letters and syllables are in steam?
| Letters | 5: S-T-E-A-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 33 times per million words; the 2,888th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is steam?
Steam appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce steam?
- UK /stiːm/
- US /stiːm/
Steam has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-steam.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with steam?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as steam from its last stressed vowel (/im/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: mates, satem.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of steam
- steams plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- steaming participle, present
- steamed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does steam mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The hot gaseous form of water, formed when water changes from the liquid phase to the gas phase (at or above its boiling point temperature).
- 2
Mist, fog.
- 3
Exhaled breath into cold air below the dew point of the exhalation.
- 4
Pressurized water vapour used for heating, cooking, or to provide mechanical energy.
- 5
The act of cooking by steaming.
Give the carrots a ten-minute steam.
- 6
Internal energy for progress or motive power.
After three weeks in bed he was finally able to sit up under his own steam.
- 7
Pent-up anger.
Dad had to go outside to blow off some steam.
- 8
A steam-powered vehicle, referring to their use.
verb
- 1
To cook with steam.
The best way to cook artichokes is to steam them.
- 2
To be cooked with steam.
The artichokes are steaming in the pot.
- 3
To expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing.
to steam wood or cloth
- 4
To raise steam, e.g. in a steam locomotive.
- 5
To produce or vent steam.
- 6
To rise in vapour; to issue, or pass off, as vapour.
Our breath steamed in the cold winter air.
- 7
To become angry; to fume; to be incensed.
- 8
To make angry.
It really steams me to see her treat him like that.
adjective
- 1
Old-fashioned; from before the digital age.
noun
- 1
Initialism of serial time-encoded amplified microscopy.
- 2
Abbreviation of science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, a grouping of several fields of education.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate steam?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of steam: ST.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Steam in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vapeur d'eau, vapeur , cuisiner à la vapeur |
| German | Wasserdampf, Dampf , dämpfen, dünsten , Kraft, Energie |
| Portuguese | vapor , cozer/cozinhar no vapor , pique |
| Spanish | vapor , vaporar, cocer al vapor, cocinar al vapor, vaporear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does steam come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).