# steel

> English word · Noun · IPA /stiːl/ · frequency rank #2,016

## Definitions
1. An artificial metal produced from iron, harder and more elastic than elemental iron; used figuratively as a symbol of hardness.
2. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
3. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
4. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
5. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
6. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
7. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
8. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
9. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
10. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
11. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
12. Any item made of this metal, particularly including:
13. Medicinal consumption of this metal; chalybeate medicine; (eventually) any iron or iron-treated water consumed as a medical treatment.
14. The gray hue of this metal; steel-gray, or steel blue.
15. Extreme hardness or resilience.

## Etymology
From Middle English stele, stel, from Old English stīele, from Proto-West Germanic *stahlī (“something made of steel”), enlargement of *stahl (“steel”), from Proto-Germanic *stahlą, from *stah- or *stag- (“to be firm, rigid”), from Proto-Indo-European *stak- (“to stay, to be firm”). Compare Scots stele, Yola stehli, German Stahl, Dutch staal.

## Easily confused with
- **stem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-stem)
- **stew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-stew)
- **still** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-still)
- **sweet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-sweet)
- **steps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-steps)
- **Steve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-steve)
- **steep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-steep)
- **sweep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-sweep)
- **stern** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-stern)
- **steer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-steer)
- **stein** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-stein)
- **swell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-swell)
- **stool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-stool)
- **Steph** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-steph)
- **stent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-stent)
- **steen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-steen)
- **strep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-strep)
- **Stoll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-stoll)
- **stews** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-stews)
- **street** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steel-vs-street)

## Common misspellings (7)
`setel`, `ssteel`, `steell`, `stel`, `stele`, `stteel`, `tseel`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/steel