Meaning

noun an alloy of iron with small amounts of carbon; widely used in construction; mechanical properties can be varied over a wide range

noun a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard

noun knife sharpener consisting of a ridged steel rod

originFrom 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, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0