étape

/eɪˈtæp/

noun

A public storehouse.

OriginFrench étape ← Middle French estappe ← Old French estaple →
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Meanings

nounétape (plural étapes)

plural étapes

  1. A public storehouse.
  2. Supplies issued to troops on the march.
  3. broadlyThe place where troops on the march halt overnight.
  4. broadlyThe distance marched during a day.
  5. historicalIn Russia, a rest point for parties of prisoners in transit on foot
  6. cyclingA stage of a multistage bicycle race.

Origin

  1. Russianэта́п
  2. Frankish*stapul
  3. Old Dutchstapul
  4. Middle Dutchstapel“warehouse; market”
  5. Old Frenchestaple“warehouse; a place where merchants bring their wares to be sold”
  6. Middle Frenchestappe
  7. Frenchétape
  8. Englishétape

Borrowed from French étape, from Middle French estappe, from Old French estaple (“warehouse; a place where merchants bring their wares to be sold”), from Middle Dutch stapel (“warehouse; market”), from Old Dutch stapul, from Frankish *stapul. Sense 5 is a semantic loan from Russian эта́п (etáp). More at the doublet staple.

More words from French, Middle French, Old French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

étape. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/%C3%A9tape

MLA

“étape.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/%C3%A9tape. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “étape,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/%C3%A9tape.

Source: étape on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.