Etymology

overstep

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Today it means: To go too far beyond (a limit); especially, to cross boundaries or exceed norms or conventions. Full definition →

Middle English *oversteppen ← Old English ofersteppan ← Proto-Germanic *uberstapjaną
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*uberstapjaną“to step over; overstep”
  2. Old English · inherited fromofersteppan
  3. Middle English · inherited from*oversteppen
  4. English todayoverstep

From Middle English *oversteppen, from Old English ofersteppan, from Proto-Germanic *uberstapjaną (“to step over; overstep”). Cognate with Dutch overstappen, German Low German överstappen, German überstapfen, überstepfen. Cf. transgress. By surface analysis, over- + step.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.