S T E 
573 
S T E 
To STEP, v. n. [pcaeppan, Sax.; stappen, Dutch ] To 
move by a single change of the place ot the foot.—One of 
our nation hath proceeded so far, that he was able, by the 
hqlp of wings, in a running pace, to step constantly ten 
yards at a time. Wilkins. —To advance by a sudden pro¬ 
gression. 
Ventidius lately 
Bury’d his father, by whose death he’s stepp'd 
Into a great estate. Shakspeare. 
To move mentally.— When a person is hearing a 
sermon, he may give his thoughts leave to step back so 
far as to recollect the several heads. Watts. —To go; to 
walk. 
I am in blood 
Slept -in so far, that should I wade no more, 
Returning were as tedious as go o’er. Shakspeare. 
To come as it were by chance.—The old poets step in to 
the assistance of the medalist. Addison. —To take a short 
walk. 
My brothers, when they saw me wearied out, 
Stepp'd, as they said, to the next thicket side 
To bring me berries. Milton, 
To walk gravely, slowly, or resolutely.—Pyrrhus, the 
most ancient of all the bashaws, stept forth, and, appealing 
unto his mercies, earnestly requested him to spare his life. 
Knolles. 
STEP, s. [pceep. Sax.; stop,’ Dutch.] Progression by 
one removal of the foot. 
Thou sound and firm-set earth, 
Hear not my steps, which way they walk. Shakspeare. 
One remove in climbing; hold for the foot; a stair.— 
While Solyman lay at Buda, seven bloody heads of bishops, 
slain in battle, were set in order upon a wooden step. 
Knolles. —Quantity of space passed or measured by one re¬ 
moval of the foot.—The gradus, a Roman measure, may be 
translated a step, or the half of a passus or pace. Arbuth- 
not. —A small length ; a small space.—There is but a step 
between me and death. 1 Sam.-— Walk; passage; (in the 
plural). 
O may thy pow'r, propitious still to me, 
Conduct my steps to find the fatal tree 
In this deep forest. Dryden. 
Gradation; degree.—The same sin for substance hath sun¬ 
dry steps and degrees, in respect whereof one man becometh 
a more heinous offender than another. Perkins. —Progres¬ 
sion; act of advancing.—To derive two or three general 
principles of motion from phenomena, and afterwards to tell 
us how the properties and actions of all corporeal things fol¬ 
low from those manifest principles, would be a very great 
step in philosophy, though the causes of those principles 
were not yet discovered. Newton. —Footstep; print of the 
foot. 
From hence Astrea took her flight, and here 
The prints of her departing steps appear. Dryden. 
Gait; manner of walking. 
Sudden from the golden throne 
With a submissive step I hasted down; 
The glowing garland from my hair I took, 
Love in my heart, obedience in my look. Prior. 
Action; instance of conduct. — The reputation of a 
man depends upon the first steps he makes in the world. 
Pope. 
STEP, in composition, signifies one who is related only 
by marriage, [bteop. Sax., from pcepan, to deprive or 
snake an orphan ; pceop-psebep, fteop-mobep, &c. Step, 
father, step-son, and step-daughter, are terms almost obso¬ 
lete in our language: but this is to be regretted, since they 
are far more concise and elegant, than the barbarous com¬ 
pound fathcr-zn-/au>, son in-law, &c.] 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1592. 
You shall not find me, daughter. 
After the slander of most step-mothers, 
Ill-ey’d unto you. Shakspeare „ 
A father cruel, and a step-dame false. Shakspeare.— 
This queene endured some troubles in the reign of her step- 
sonne King Henry the Fifth. Weeve. 
STEPAN, a small town in the west of European Russia, 
in Volhynia, with 3700 inhabitants; 46 miles north of 
Rovno. 
STEPENITZ, a river of Prussia, in the government of 
Potsdam. It flows by Perleberg, and joins the Elbe at 
Wittenberg. 
STEPENITZ, a river of the north of Germany, in the 
grand duchy of Mecklenburg, which joins the Trave, near 
its entrance into the Baltic. 
STEPHANESTE, a small town of European Turkey, in 
Moldavia, at the conflux of the Pruth and the Baszeu; 40 
miles north of Jassy, and 116 north-west of Bender. 
STEPHAN1A [so named by Loureiro, from a-repavi], Gr., 
any thing encircling the summit of something else], in Bo¬ 
tany, a genus of the class dioecia, order monandria, natural 
order of sarmentacese asparagi (Juss.J —Generic Character. 
Male-—Calyx: perianth of six rather acute,spreading leaves, 
the three alternate ones smaller. Corolla: petals three, small, 
obtuse. Stamina: filament one, as long as the calyx, thick 
and abrupt at the summit; anther circular, crowning the 
filament. Female—on a separate plant. Calyx as in the 
male. Corolla none. Pistil: germen superior, ovate ; style 
none ; stigma erect, elongated. Pericarp : berry minute, 
ovate. Seed solitary.— Essential Character. Male- 
Calyx of six leaves. Petals three, much smaller than the 
calyx. Anther annular. Female—Calyx of six leaves. Pe¬ 
tals none. Stigma simple. Berry superior, with one 
seed. 
1. Stephania rotunda, or round-rooted stephania.—Leaves 
peltate, roundish. Umbels compound—Native of the woods 
of Cochin-china. 
2. Stephania longa, or long-rooted stephania.—Leaves 
peltate, oblong. Heads of flowers lateral, sessile.—Found 
about the reed fences of Cochin-china. 
STEPHANITAS [o-re<£av<7ai, Gr.], in Antiquity, an 
epithet given to games and exercises, where the prize was 
only a garland. 
STEPHANIUM, in Botany, a name given by Schreber 
to Pahcourea. 
STEPHANO, one of the highest hills of the small island 
of Ithaca, in Greece. 
STEPHANOPHORUS [o-t«pa.vocpo§o<;, Gr.], in Antiquity, 
the chief priest of Pallas, who presided over the rest. It 
was usual for every god to have a chief priest; that of Pal¬ 
las was the Stephanophorus, just mentioned; and that of 
Hercules was called Dadouchus. 
STEPHANSFELDEN, more commonly called Steck- 
ff.ld, a small town of France, in Alsace; 16 miles from 
Strasburg. 
STEPHANUS (Byzantius), a grammarian who flourished 
as it is conjectured, about the close of the fifth century, was 
professor in the imperial college of Constantinople, and com¬ 
posed a dictionary, containing nouns-adjective, derived from 
the namesof places; and designating the inhabitants of those 
laces. Of this work there exists only an abridgment, made 
yHermolaus, and dedicated to the emperor Justinian. This 
work is known by the title Ilepi noXeuv, De Urbibus; but 
that of the original was : hence it has been inferred, 
that the author's intention was to write a geographical work. 
Much of the value of the original is unquestionably lost in 
the abridgment; yet learned men have derived considerable 
light from it; and it has been an object of critical illustra¬ 
tion to Casaubon, Scaliger, and Salmasius. It was printed 
in Greek at Venice, in 1502, under the superintendance of 
Aldus Manutius. 
STEPHENS, a parish of England, in the county of 
Cornwall; 1 mile west-south-west of Saltash. Trematon 
7 G castle. 
