# steppe

> English word · Noun · IPA /stɛp/ · frequency rank #35,957

## Definitions
1. The grasslands of Eastern Europe and Asia.
2. A vast, cold, dry, grassy plain.

## Etymology
From German Steppe or French steppe, in turn from Russian степь (stepʹ, “flat grassy plain”). There is no generally accepted earlier etymology, but there is a speculative Old East Slavic reconstruction *сътепь (sŭtepĭ, “trampled place, flat, bare”), related to топот (topot), топтать (toptatĭ).

## Easily confused with
- **steps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steppe-vs-steps)
- **Steve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steppe-vs-steve)
- **stipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steppe-vs-stipe)
- **Stevie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steppe-vs-stevie)
- **stripe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steppe-vs-stripe)
- **Stewie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steppe-vs-stewie)
- **stopped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steppe-vs-stopped)
- **stepped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steppe-vs-stepped)
- **stopper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steppe-vs-stopper)
- **steep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steep-vs-steppe)
- **Steph** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steph-vs-steppe)
- **staple** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staple-vs-steppe)
- **Steele** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steele-vs-steppe)
- **Stepan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stepan-vs-steppe)
- **Stephen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stephen-vs-steppe)
- **steeper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steeper-vs-steppe)
- **steeple** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steeple-vs-steppe)

## Common misspellings (6)
`setppe`, `ssteppe`, `stepep`, `stpepe`, `stteppe`, `tseppe`

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