Stephanie 
5933 
stercoraemia 
jmUei/. Stepped gable, gage, gearing, ^ec the nouns. 
Stepped pyramid, n form of pyramid of which the 
faces, instead of continuing In unu slope from bane to apex, 
were sometimes of natural leaves, as of the olive, laurel, 
oak, parsley, or pine, am) sotm-tinit.'s of b-nvt-s of metal, 
as gold, and their award was a very usual distinction 
anionc the <! reeks. Ill this sense very commonly ex- 
pi.sscd by the translators as 'crown,' as In the famous 
oration "On the Crown " of Demosthenes. (/>) A head- 
ornameiit or crown akin to the stephane, from 
which it differs in that it preserves the satin- 
height all round, instead of diminishing toward 
the sides. See cut in preceding column. 
Stephanotis (stef-a-uo'tis), . [NL. (Thouars, 
lMi), so called in allusion to the corona of five 
flattish petaloid bodies or auricles ; < Gr. OT><JHI- 
cof, a crown, + oi'f (UT-), ear.] 1. A "runs of 
asclepiadaceous plants, of thetrilie Murmlmii-n . 
distinguislied from Miirxili-nin by itslarge white 
salver-shaped or funnelform corolla. There an- 
about 14 species, of which 5 are natives of Madagascar, .1 
of the Malay archipelago and southern China, 3 of Cuba, 
and 1 of Peru. They are smooth shrub],, -twiners, often Stepper (step'er), n. . 
high-climbing, bearing opposite deep-green fleshy or or that which steps (with a certain gait or car- 
Steppe'l Pyramid. Sakkarah, Egypt- 
are formed in a more ur Irshrvt-n series of enormous steps. 
Some of the oldest of the Egyptian pyramids present this 
form. 
One who 
Hera Ludovisi, wearing Stephane. 
The arch of the top of the cranium Is markedly flat, giv- 
lobes. The fruit consists of two thick horizontal follicles, 
with numerous comose seeds. S. Jtoribuiida is a favorite 
evergreen greenhouse climber, commonly known by its 
generic name stephanotix, also as waxjltncer, and some- 
times, from its native country, as Madagascar jasmine or 
ckaplet-Jlou-er. 
_ r __ j= __ 2. [/. <.] A plant of this genus. 
ing the Stephanie region a somewhat angular appearance, step-ladder (step'lad"er), . A ladder having 
a. O. Forbes, Eastern Archipelago, p. 262. fl at s t e pg, or treads, in place of rungs, and usu- lectiveTy" a" s'eries "of step-like bearings, as the 
Stephanion (ste-fa'ni-on), .; pi. stephania(-&). ally provided with an adjustable supporting bearings for the spindles of a spinning-frame 
[NL., < Gr. artibaviov, dim. of erf&avof, a wreath : frame. or spooling-inachine, or of a ball-winding ma- 
see Stephanos.] In craniom., the point where Stepmother (step'muTH"er), . < ME.jitep- c v,i ne . 
The mare's a strimer, and Phil King knows how to han- 
dle the ribbons. The Centura, XXXVIII. 377. 
Stepping (step 'ing), H. 1. Collectively, the 
steps ofa joint in which the parts at their junc- 
tion form a series of reentrant angles, thus re- 
sembling a flight of steps, as in the fitting of 
the doors to the front frames of safes. 2. Col- 
the coronal suture crosses the temporal ridge. 
An upper Stephanion and a lower are distinguished, cor- 
responding to the upper and lower temporal ridges. See 
cut under craniometry. 
stephanite (stef'an-it), . [Named after Stc- 
j>li<tn, Archduke of Austria.] A native sulphid ther'.] 1. A woman who is the wife of one's 
of silver and antimony, a mineral of iron-black father, but is not one's mother. 
of 
color and metallic luster. It crystallizes in the 
orthorhombic system, and Ms often pseudohexagonal 
through twinning. Also called Mac* silver or brittle sil- 
ver ore. 
stephanome (stef'a-nom), n. [For "stephano- 
nome, < Gr. orf^ovof, crown (corona), + ve/ietv, 
take, vo>of , law.] An instrument for measuring 
moilrr, uttpiitodt/r, < AS. steopmodor (= OFries. stepping-point (step'iug-point), . Same as 
stiepmoder = D. ttiefmoeder = MLG. stef/noder heardiiin, 1. 
= OHG. stiiifmuoter, MHG. stiefmuoter, G. stiff- gtepping-stone (step'iug-ston), >,. 1. A raised 
mutter = Icel. stjupmodhir = Sw. styj'moder = s tone in a stream or in a swampy place designed 
Dan. stifmoder), < ste6p-, step-, + modor, mo- to save the feet in walking. 2. A horse-block. 
Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 3. An aid or means 
by which an end may be accomplished or an 
object gained ; an assistance to progress, 
stepsister (step'sis'ter), n. [< ME. stepsystijr 
No, be assured you shall not find me, daughter, 
After the slander of most stepmothers, 
Evil-eyed unto you. Shak., Cymbeline, 1. 1. 71. -(^' DT7e>fW?er = MHG. G: stiefsch tester = 
2. A horny filament shooting up by the side of g w . styfsyster = Dan. stifsoster); < step- + sis- 
the nail. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 3. The ter.~\ One's stepfather's or stepmother's daugh- 
<,., ,.. .,,.j ,~ M pansy. Britten and Holland, Eng. Plant Names, ter by a former marriage. 
the angular dimensions of fog-bows for ex- [Prov. Eng.] stepmother's blessing, a hangnail, stepson (step'sun), n. [<ME. stepsone, stepsime. 
ample, as observed at mountain observatories. Halliwell [Prov Eng.] < AS. xtt6psunu (=D. stiefioon = MLG. stefsone 
See the quotation. stepmotherly (step'muTH"er-li), a. [< step- = OHG gtiufstln M HG. stiefsun, G. stiefsohn = 
mother + -^l.j Pertaining to or befitting a Icel gWJmtff* = Sw. styfson = Dan. stifson), < 
This instrument, "a ^''ij "j,'"'"''^ "js'S'.^^ j JJ n,i i n stepmother; hence, figuratively, harsh or neg- s (g O p. step-, + sunu, son.] A son of one's hus- 
whic'hsHd'es a crostbarcarrying certain projections, with lectful: in allusion to the behavior popularly ban( j ' or w jf' e bya former marriage, 
its aid faint objects, for which a sextant would be useless, attributed to stepmothers. step-Stone (step'ston), n. Same as stepping- 
may be measured to withinj. minutes.^ v ,-,,. step-parent (step'par'ent), n. A stepfather or 
stepmother. 
Phil. Mag., 5th ser., XXIX. 454. 
[Rare.] 
. 
Step-vein (step'van), n. In mining, a vein fill- 
Stephanophorus (stef-a-nof'o-rus), n. [NL. steppe (step), w. [= F. D. G. Dan. steppe = Sw. "? a fissure, consisting altematefy of flats, or 
(Strickland, 1841), < Gr. oTefyavotyuptx;, < ortyavof, stepp, < Russ. stept, a waste, heathy steppe.] 
crown, + ibepeiv = E. ftear 1 .] 1. In orntth., a A more or less level tract devoid of trees: a 
J a , 1 .. J 171 . 3 
horizontal, and steeply inclined or vertical 
parts, resembling in form a flight of steps. 
monotypic Neotropical genus of tanagers, hav- name given to certain parts of European and _gter~' [< ME. -ster, -stre, -estre, -estere^< AS. 
, turgid, almost pyrrhuline bill. Asiatic Russia, of which the most characteris- ( 
S. leucocephalus is bluish-black, wltfi^the lesser wing 
coverts blue, the vertical crest crimson, the hindhead 
fj c feature is the absence of forests. The word 
tur" awork widely circulated, and translated into all the 
most important European languages there is a chapter 
entitled "Steppen und Wusten" (Steppes and Deserts). 
The steppe region in Europe begins on the borders of Hol- 
land and extends through northern Germany where such 
lands are called Heiden (heaths) into Russia in Eu- 
rope, and beyond the Ural Mountains almost to the Pacific 
Ocean, for a distance of about 4,500 miles. Although the 
steppes are in general charactei ized by the lack of an 
arboreal and the presence of a grassy vegetation, and by 
a pretty uniformly level surface, there are many breaks in 
this botanical and topographical monotony, in the form of 
forests extending along the streanis, large patches of dense 
and sometimes tall sb: 
SttphanopHonis 
silky-white, the forehead, lores, and chin^ black, 
length is 
Bra?" ~ 
Arg 
2. 
Cliev, 
Stephanos (stef'a-nos), n. ; 
pi. stephanoi (-noi). [< Gr. 
oTf^afOf, a wreath, crown, 
< artyetv, put around, en- 
circle, wreathe, crown. Cf. 
stemma.] In Gr. arcliseol.: 
(a) A wreath awarded as 
a prize to the victor in a 
public contest, or as a 
token of honor, especially 
in recognition of some 
public service. Such wreaths 
jubbery, lakes (both fresh and sa- 
lineX rolling hills, ridges, barren sands, and patches cov- 
ered with saline efflorescence. The general character of 
the region is pastoral, and the population (especially of 
the Asiatic steppes) nomadic : but all this has been to a 
considerable extent interfered with by the spread of Rus- n CTO ._._ __.. 17 _._. , 
sian civilization and the domination of Russian authority. s ^ er ^ n abbreviation of sterling 2 . 
L h s e erts 8 of a cen?r d af As^^nTthwSTt^heUindra're 1 : Steraclet, " [Early mod. E., also 
gion of the extreme north. Humboldt, in the work named sterakcl ; <. ME. steracle; origin 
estre, used fern, of -ere, as in webbestre, a female 
weaver (E. Webster), fithelstre, a female fiddler, 
tcitegestre, a female prophet, etc. ; = D. -ster, as 
in spinster, a female spinner (= E. spinster), 
etc., = LL. -ster, as \npoetaster (see -aster, poet- 
aster, criticaster, etc.), also in oleaster; Clndo- 
Eur. -as- + -tor.] A termination denoting occu- 
pation, as in maltster, gamester, spinster, song- 
ster, etc. In the earliest times, and up to about the end 
of the thirteenth century, it was generally the sign of the 
feminine gender, corresponding to the masculine -ere or 
-er. In the fourteenth century it began to give place as a 
feminine termination to the Norman -ess, with which it 
was later often combined, as in seamstress, sempstress, song- 
stress, or, if it survived, was used chiefly as masculine, and 
took on new meanings of contempt or depreciation, as in 
trickster, gamester, punster, etc., or indicated simple agency 
or existence, as in deemster, doomster, huckster, tapster, team- 
ster, upholster, roadster, .ynumjster. etc. Some of the older 
nouns with this suffix survive as surnames, as Baxter, 
Webster, Samjster, Dempster, etc. 
A 
except as to places where Russian is the dominating lan- 
guage, stercobilin (ster'ko-bil-in), w. 
Some of the Asiatic Steppes are grassy plains Bothers (stercor-), dung, + bills, bile, 
[< L. stercug 
+ -iw2.] The 
ster- 
Pertaining to, 
Humboldt, Aspects of Nature (trans.), composed of, or in any way resembling dung, 
ordure, or feces; excrementitious ; fecal. 2. 
In entom., frequenting or feeding on dung, as 
many beetles, flies, etc stercoraceous vomit- 
Head 'of "HM! o"n silver Supported, a"s a vertical shaft, by a step, step- Ing, in pathol., vomiting of fecal matter, 
staterof BUS; 5* century lik bearing, or shoe.-steppedcone. Same as cone- stercorsmia, w. see stercoremta. 
Stephanos 
Steppe murrain, rinderpest. 
stepped (stept), a. [< step + -ed*.} 1. Formed 
in or forming a step or a series of steps. 2. 
