steady: [16] Steady was derived from stead ‘place’, probably on the model of Middle Low German stēdig ‘stable’. This in turn went back to a prehistoric Germanic *stadigaz, a product of the same base as produced English stead. Its etymological meaning is ‘fixed in one place’. => stead
steady (adj.)
1520s, "firmly fixed in place or station" (replacing earlier steadfast), from stead + adjectival suffix -y (2), perhaps on model of Middle Dutch, Middle Low German stadig. Old English had st?eeig "grave, serious," and stedig "barren," but neither seems to be the direct source of the modern word. Old Norse cognate stoeugr "steady, stable" was closer in sense. As an adverb from c. 1600.
Originally of things; of persons or minds from c. 1600. Meaning "working at an even rate" is first recorded in 1540s. Steady progress is etymologically a contradiction in terms. Steady state first attested 1885; as a cosmological theory (propounded by Bondi, Gold, and Hoyle), it is attested from 1948. Related: Steadily.
steady (v.)
1520s, transitive and intransitive, from steady (adj.). Related: Steadied; steadying.
steady (n.)
1792, "a steady thing or place," from steady (adj.). From 1885 as "something that holds another object steady." Meaning "one's boyfriend or girlfriend" is from 1897; to go steady is 1905 in teenager slang.
雙語例句
1. Gail was silent for a moment, regarding Harry with his steady gaze.
蓋爾鎮定地注視著哈里，沉默了片刻。
來自柯林斯例句
2. She felt increasingly uncomfortable under the woman's steady gaze.
那個女人一直盯著她看，讓她覺得愈發不自在了。
來自柯林斯例句
3. He was firm and steady unlike other men she knew.
他堅定可靠，和她認識的其他男人不一樣。
來自柯林斯例句
4. It's been hard to get a steady fix on what's going on.
要對正在發生的事情保持持續的關注和了解并不容易。
來自柯林斯例句
5. He reached for a cigarette and lit it, fingers rock steady.