Steer

How to spell steer

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce steer

What does steer mean?

1. verbTo guide the direction of a vehicle, vessel, or course of action.
2. nounA young castrated bull raised for beef.

Steer in a sentence

• verb

  She had to steer carefully around the pothole in the road.

• noun

  The rancher sold each steer at the autumn cattle market.

• verb

  A good chairperson can steer a meeting back to the main agenda.

• noun

  A healthy steer can gain weight quickly on rich pasture.

Where does steer come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English verb stieran, meaning 'to guide, direct, or control', which is closely tied to steor, a word for a rudder or the steering of a ship. It belongs to a wider Germanic family that includes Dutch sturen and German steuern, all carrying the sense of holding something on course. The nautical meaning came first, since for centuries steering meant working the rudder or steering oar of a boat, and only later did the word broaden to cars, conversations, and any kind of direction. The unrelated noun for a young bullock is a separate Old English word, steor, meaning a young ox, which happens to be spelled identically today. Because the verb is so ordinary and phonetically regular, the only real trap is the 'ee' versus 'ea' choice, since it is a homophone of 'stere' and visually close to 'steer' versus 'stir'.

How the word is built

• steer (from Old English stieran: to guide, control)